"THE BRANQUINHA EXPERIENCE": A study of the productive activities of the Associação das Produtoras Agroecológicas da Zona da Mata de Alagoas – APROAGRO (Association of Agroecological Producers of the Zona da Mata of Alagoas), according to the principles of the Economy of Communion (EoC)
Branquinha's experience. Economy of Communion. Reciprocity. Gratuity.
The objective of this thesis is to analyze the solidary productive practices carried out by the Associação das ProdutorasAgroecológicas da Zona da Mata de Alagoas – APROAGRO, based on the principles of the Economy of Communion (EoC). The effectiveness of the productive dynamics will be considered based on socio-productive tensions. This is a women's association of the Zumbi dos Palmares settlement, at Branquinha/AL, whose family character is aimed at generating income for the residents of the settlement. The activities carried out are essentially agrarian, that is, directed towards family farming and artisanal activities. They aim to be managed and commercialized in a common way, according to the cooperative style of production. The Economy of Communion aims, through the Christian ethics of free and reciprocal sharing of material goods, to create in freedom the division of part of the profits obtained by companies that adhere to this proposal. Intervening with the impoverished from the perspective of their socioeconomic inclusion is the goal to be achieved. It is a project that was launched at Brazil on May, 1991, by the Italian Chiara Lubich (1920-2008), founder of the Catholic Christian religious group called the Movimento dos Focolares(Focolare Movement). The approach will be a case study in the socioeconomic context of APROAGRO as an alternative to the model of capitalist hegemonic production. The main theoretical orientation was based on the perspective of Marcel Mauss's (1974) gift theorythrough which it was possible to discuss the theoretical foundations of the Economy of Communion and relating it the productive practices of the enterprise. When we inquired about the effectiveness and economic viability of the EoC, we assume that the economic development projects that were carried out in the association, under the aegis of the Economy of Communion, it generated socioeconomic improvements for the settlers. Consequently, capital can be considered more humanized insofar as its acquisition and distribution are the results of a solidary productive dynamic.