Adaptation and Relations of the Construction Workers with the Place and the Seaside Resort Transformation of Matinhos, Paraná [Brazil]

Abstract

The research was developed in Matinhos, on the coast of Paraná, a traditional tourist destination for sun and beach in the South of Brazil, based on the following question: how was the universe of work and life of construction workers constituted in the process of seaside resort transformation? As in other global coastal territories near large urban centers, urban expansion and verticalization, settlement, and population growth were phenomena directly related to beach and tourist use. The objective of this investigation was to analyze the universe of the construction workers and their contribution in the trajectory of the municipality, especially the process of settlement between 1980 and 2000. The comprehensions of welcoming people in the process of settling in the municipality, the mobility or social ascension, as well as the relations of belonging were analyzed. The research adopted a qualitative approach, with a case study design, and the techniques used for data collection were semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that the interviewees, coming from rural areas and with economic fragility, mentioned initial difficulty in adapting, however, from experiences lived they have created relationships of belonging consistent with the place and experienced social mobility and ascension, with routines linked to the dynamics of the beach.