Formação econômica de Santana do Livramento: análise da pecuária como eixo estrutural

Abstract

Since the beginning of the economic and social formation of Santana do Livramento, livestock farming has developed as an important economic structure, keeping itself present throughout history. Thus, the objective of the research is to analyze the economic formation of Sant'Ana do Livramento taking livestock as a structural element of analysis. In order to meet this objective, we opted for the use of the historical-structuralist method, based mainly on the methodological construction present in Celso Furtado's work. Historical-structuralism is adequate to analyze livestock as a central structure in the economic formation process of Santana do Livramento. For through vertical cuts in time allows to identify the influence of livestock on the other sectors of the economics of Santana do Livramento. Cattle were already present in the territory that corresponds to the city today, and was one of the influencers of their settlement and spatial formation. Through livestock, and related to it, the first industries of Santana do Livramento emerged. The refrigeration industry, more expressive, next to the industry of wool, constituted the driving force of the local economy, during good part of century XX. Land distribution, characterized by the existence of large rural properties, together with the low productivity of livestock, allowed the emergence of rice crop, which proved to be a "safe" form of productive diversification for landowners. Livestock activity has changed over time, at times appearing with greater or lesser importance in the economic scenario of the city, but always relating to the other sectors of the economy of Santana do Livramento.