Turismo rural comunitário e transformação territorial em São João dos Mellos - RS.

Abstract

This research addresses the territorial transformation of a rural community, from the process of articulation of social forces at different scales and their effects in space. This study is carried out in the historical formation of the District of São João dos Mellos-RS. This small community of familiar farmers has undergone profound changes in recent years due to the introduction of the practice of community rural tourism. Tourist activity, organized endogenously, led to important social and spatial changes in this place. Within this theme, the object of analysis defines the socio-spatial relations established in the territory by the social actors that are interconnected directly nad indirectly to the organization and practice of community rural tourism. Thus, we investigated the social and spatial relationships engendered by different actors at different scales (local and regional) in order to see how these actions focused and settled in the territory and in the region in the context of the capitalist mode of production. Using as methodological approach the dialectical historical materialism, 27 focused interviews were conducted under a qualitative approach, with different actors Who participated directly and indirectly in the process of organization and implementation of tourism. These data were analyzed through content analysis techniques. The survey results revealed how the studied community was able to become territorial and enter and establish itself regionally, through horizontal logic.