Fronteiras do café na Zona da Mata Mineira (1870-1940)

Abstract

This thesis seeks an understanding of the agrarian frontier of coffee in Zona da Mata region, established between the years 1870 and 1940. The work is part of an attempt to interpret the autonomous elements of Mata as the main rubiacea producing region in Minas Gerais, considering all changes at both extremes of international commodity chain. It analyzes throughout the text the metabolic action occurred between agricultural system’s two elements: labor and land. Employing a double spatial cutting, first seeks to understand how labor was settled in coffee production farms in two different periods of its legal status. In a second step, evaluates the possession and availability of land while crucial coffee economy’s reproduction elements in all localities in focus. From these two points, lastly, describes a coffee frontier model for the region, in its distinguished spatial and chronological boundaries.