Between fishery and beach tourism: alternatives of labor allocation in Marudá (Atlantic Amazon)

Abstract

Intending to support the relativization of the idea that predicts acculturation as the inevitable fate of traditional peoples in continuous contact with touristic flows, this text analyzes the case of the coastal locality of Marudá (Marapanim, Pará) and investigates how the interaction between residents and tourists influences local lifestyles. Through participant observation and interviews, it describes the patterns of labor allocation in two alternative spheres: fishing, shellfish collecting, plant extractivism, on the one hand; provision of services to tourists, on the other. The study also recognizes that second-home tourism, the modality identified in Marudá, differs from other modalities because it implies a more active role of local actors in the definition of social change process. Thus, the paper concludes that beach tourism does not entail the collapse of local lifestyles; it merely figures as an alternative set of resources, of which the Marudaenses can take advantage to fulfill their needs.