Reflections on a Rural Community Traversed By the Process of Globalization: The Case of the Tupé Reserve (Amazon, Brazil)

This paper aims to present preliminary results of a PhD research that focuses on the dynamics of social relations of rural population living in a sustainable development reserve, the Tupé Reserve (Manaus-Amazon, Brazil). In this area, activities related to local and regional tourism have been developed and since 2009, it features a resort – an uprooted space geared towards international luxury tourism. In this context, specific elements of the globalization process are involved, such as financial (global and regional), touristic and political interests. The Tupé Reserve appears as an arena of interaction among several actors, being a basis for manifestations of a production process of consumer demands and new lifestyles in which imageries, values and worldviews are shared. Thus, the social relations there are no longer constrained by the local context of interaction, as various forces (local, national and global) are at stake. These, far from being seen as opposites, are seized as part of a dialectical process, instances of socialization of a particular culture. In short, we propose a paper that discusses the effects and constraints of the transformations and conflicts in the relations between global social changes and local reality, its cultural representations, and identities of the people who live there. The question of how, and to what extent rural communities produce, and are made by, globalization is central to our work. Therefore, we are led to discuss, among other things, the vitality and renewal of topics related to rural communities.