From "Farm" to "Community": space-times rooted in the sisal region of Bahia

Abstract

This article aims at understanding the
plurality of meanings assigned to the “community”
in the sisal region from two points of departure: the
community is firstly considered as a space-time for-
med at the beginning of the 1970’s, marking the be-
ginning of a process of social mobilization; it is then
understood as a locality, for processes of social mo-
bilization happen within the geographical space of
the farm, which gradually coincides with the com-
munity, and then becomes not only a reference of
“social work”, but also a place. It is thus possible to
suppose a road leading from “farm” to “communi-
ty”, as a process of production of a new space-time.
The analysis of the meanings of “community” in the
region is based on the narratives of its oldest inhabi-
tants, as well as of community leaders and advocates
of the Rural Evangelization Movement (MER) who
have been active in the region since the 1970’s.