“Pra lá e pra cá”: o sentido do lugar e do migrar entre jovens rurais

Abstract

This master's dissertation is aimed to understand the meaning of place and migrating within the migratory process of young people from the Santana do Mundo Novo community, located in the Juramento municipality (northern Minas Gerais, Brazil). The research also presents the study on the motivations and consequences of this migration. Therefore, the author led a qualitative methodology, based on bibliographic review and field research, permeated by contributions of phenomenology, anthropology, and humanist geography. Data collection was done by semi-structured interviews, held with 16 young people from the community, aged 15 to 29, and also with family members and with community association and school leaders. In addition, the study also recurred to participant observation, field diary writing, photographs, and secondary data, in order to contextualize the place, as research techniques. The departure of young people and their return to the origin place assume new ways of interaction and modify the community. Young people go out in search for better opportunities, for work and study, and most often return on weekends. This "back and forth" movement transforms people, families, places, and in this way, mobility turns part of the community's way of life.