Rural settings: comparative study of alternative models

Abstract

Comparative studies have been conducted in State of São Paulo(Brazil), about Agrarian Reform in Araraquara region, in historical valleyof the Paraíba do Sul River and in São Carlos region with support fromCNPq, coordinated by Dulce Whitaker. Ongoing researchs revealedexperiences of sustainability, permanence and resistance of traditional ruraland emergence of a new rural, as alternative to the hegemonic model: modelsthat can be analyzed in view of regional development, inserted in globaltrends, indicating return and permanence in the country, not only of ruralworkers and peasants, as city people who choose to work in in rural areas,or alternate urban life to rural. This article presents two models of rurality"discovered" by us in São Carlos region: an ecovillage with residents inrural-urban alternations and a farm in a rural district, which presents atraditional rural with historical resistance by a quilombola family stronglypressed by agribusiness. We bring information on different ways of life inrural settlements and in new rural which can produce positive impact oneconomic and environmental sustainability.