Disputa territorial e dinâmicas do cooperativismo solidário no Rio Grande do Sul: juventude, agricultura familiar e resistências na cooperativa Nossa Terra, Erechim/RS

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the dynamics of territorial and political disputes between agribusiness and family farming in Brazil, with an emphasis on expressions of resistance materialized in solidarity cooperatives, especially based on the experience of the Nossa Terra Cooperative, based in Erechim/RS, and the Feira Jovem Project. Set in the context of the socio- territorial transformations of the Alto Uruguai region of Rio Grande do Sul, the research is based on the assumption that solidarity cooperatives are a fundamental strategy for building relative autonomy in the face of the advance of capital and the growing deterritorialization of rural subjects. The investigation is developed using a qualitative interpretive approach, anchored in the participatory action research method, allowing direct contact with family farmers, managers, and young cooperative members. The practices, conflicts, and strategies of reterritorialization associated with the socio-productive organization of family farming were analyzed at different scales (local, regional, and national), considering both the economic and symbolic and political aspects of these experiences. The study is structured around three main axes: (1) understanding the territorial dispute between agribusiness and family farming, highlighting solidarity cooperatives as a form of resistance and productive reorganization; (2) analyzing the process of territorialization, deterritorialization, and reterritorialization of the Nossa Terra Cooperative, highlighting its capacity for socio-territorial articulation of markets and its relevance for regional development; and (3) examining the leading role of cooperative youth in the Feira Jovem Project as an expression of political and territorial struggle in defense of sustainable and solidarity-based ways of life. The results show that solidarity cooperativism, by articulating economic, social, and cultural practices, asserts itself as a field of political and territorial dispute, counterposing itself to the hegemonic logic of agribusiness. At the same time, it reveals the power of cooperative youth as active subjects in the construction of new ruralities, in the consolidation of short marketing circuits, and in the promotion of concrete alternatives for sustainable and inclusive development.