THE SOCIAL TERRITORIALITY IN THE BRAZIL-BOLIVIA INTERNATIONAL BORDER, IN THE SOUTHWEST OF MATO GROSSO: A STUDY ON THE FRONTIER AND THE BORDER SUBJECTS

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion about the social territoriality issues built on the border Brazil-Bolivia, in the southwest portion of the state of Mato Grosso. This research is still in progress, aiming to develop a sociological analysis and discuss the issue of social territoriality built by border residents in the defined area, who are rural workers, small producers, farmers and traditional people, mestizos, called "Chiquitanos". The study area is called the Landfill Point, but also includes part of its surroundings. It is located at the city of Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, bordering the municipalities of Pontes e Lacerda, Porto Espiridião and within the legal Amazon. The time frame of the study covers the period 1940-2012. Preliminary research results indicate that the region set up an area of confrontation and disputes, conflicts in everyday dilemmas are present in social relationships and in those residents’ ways of being and living. Based on the studies of Social Theory, and considering the range of their possibilities of analysis, it uses the methodological features offered by Oral History, memory, life stories and their sources, but also the documentary survey. It intends to unveil, from the perspective of locals, the "sense and fluidity" of the limits of the border States Nation between Brazil and Bolivia. The Brazil-Bolivia border strip in the studied region is recurrently marginalized by the political discourse, which insists on leaving them under the shadow of illicitness.