Comunidade nikkei de Paracatu-MG e suas experiências de desenvolvimento no contexto do PRODECER

Abstract

The thesis presents other possible interpretations and perspectives on development processes, regarding the existing theoretical framework and recent trends in development thinking, obtained from the history of the Nikkei community from Paracatu-MG, composed of people and groups that migrated to the Municipality in the second half of the 20th century, in the context of the opening of new agricultural frontiers in Cerrado regions, provided by programs such as PRODECER. The history of this community was accessed by oral reports from Nikkei residents in Paracatu, expressed in interviews with the participation of 23 people, during fieldwork conducted in two stages. The application of oral history methods and techniques was facilitated by a familiarization process developed with the interviewees. An understanding of development processes as experiences that emerge from subjectivities in their diversity and complexity, grouped in the dimensions of migration, work, education, community and culture, was achieved through the application of key concepts and approaches from the post-colonial studies, especially diaspora, hybridism, in-between, colonialism, imperialism and orientalism, in the analysis of development aspirations, values and expectations of Nikkei throughout their life trajectories, considering the political, economic, social and cultural contexts in which they lived and live since the origins in Japan. In this sense, references are made to Japanese immigration to Brazil, the repercussions of the Second World War on Nikkei communities, Brazilian economic policies during the PRODECER period, the Dekassegui movement, and aspects of the recent history of the municipality of Paracatu. The research also contributed to open possibilities for reflection, reconstruction and re-signification of the history of the community studied in its development processes.