THE SOCIAL DRAMA OF WATER SCARCITY IN A QUILOMBO IN THE SERTÃO POTIGUAR: NOTES ON THE PRODUCTION OF COLLECTIVE ACTION AND IDENTITY

Abstract

This work presents some notes on the social drama (Turner, 2017) of water scarcity in the Quilombola community of Aroeira in the central region of Rio Grande do Norte. Through this conflict, it is possible to understand some dilemmas that hang over the process of producing collective identity and, consequently, collective action in the community. This research was able to identify a process that elaborates and re-elaborates identity references, the promotion and invention of rites of passage, and the re-signification of institutions and processes that cannot be conceived solely through a utilitarian, economic, and bureaucratic rationality. We were able to see that collective identity has a processual character, where the mobilization of references occurs in a transitory manner and through crossings, causing schisms and tensions in the conception of community and territory, both of which are viewed from a heterogeneous and unstable perspective. At stake, as observed, are beliefs, emotions, and individual and collective projects of distinct natures. The research had a qualitative character, opting for an ethnographic approach that resulted in the analysis and description of the social drama of water in the quilombo; relying on secondary sources, such as documents and studies on the theme.