Traditional Communities, Development, and the Commons: Movements by Collectors of Wild Fruits in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This article focuses on the experience of Mangaba Collectors in the state of Sergipe in northeastern Brazil to investigate problems faced today by traditional communities living in the commons. The way of life of Mangaba Collectors has been modified because of real estate speculation and the extensive cultivation of crops in their traditional territories of extraction. This community has thus been forced to organize politically and create partnership networks in civil society and the scientific community to address the crisis. However, the opportunity to sell products made from Mangaba in the consumer market created ambiguity within the movement, with some seeking to maintain the logic of the commons and others seeking to expand insertion into the market.