CATOLICISMO POPULAR, COMUNIDADES ECLESIAIS DE BASE (CEB s) E MOVIMENTO SOCIAL: O CASO DA RESERVA EXTRATIVISTA CAZUMBÁ-IRACEMA

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to analyse the relationship betweem popular catholicism, Christian Base Communities (CEB s), and the Social Movement of the Extrativista Reserve of Cazumbá-Iracema (RESEX), in the communities of Cazumbá, Cuidado and Granja located along the Caeté River in Acre. The study includes the rubber plantation world in its macro and micro structures, and seeks to understand the many dimensions of this Extrativista Reserve, verifying how popular Catholicism, official Catholism and Christian base communities funcion together in this setting. Altenative sources of family income are revealing new to maintain a living in the forest for this population of rubber tree workers. This group organizes as much in their social-economic context as in their beliefs, which emphasize the symbolic meanings of theis expressions of life. The study deals with the configuration of a new type of person in the forest, specifically the rubber tree workers in the Amazon region, especially those along the Caeté Ruver in Sena Madureira, a city in the State of Acre. The theoretical point of reference for study is based on the concept of religion as a structural element at the hearf of social movements.