PLURALITIES IN MEANINGS OF NATURE WITHIN THE SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF ‘PRAIA DA CINLÂNDIA’ BEACH

Abstract

The paper presents a research at Praia da Cinelândia, a beach in Aracaju, Sergipe (Brazil), which aimed to map the socioenvironmental perceptions of the beach looking at its (physical and symbolic) structures of occupation. Three field instruments were used to collect the data: (a) direct systematic observations with photographic records and notes in field diaries; (b) sociodemographic questionnaire; and (c) structured interviews with beach goers and business owners placed on the beach. Sociodemographic data were analyzed quantitatively and data from the field diaries and interviews were analyzed using Qualitative Textual Analysis. Among the results we highlight: (a) the occupation of Praia da Cinelândia is heterogeneous, especially on weekends, constituting a territory of pluralities; (b) the heterogeneity results in a social cartography that brings together different socioenvironmental perceptions about the beach, setting the tone for contradictory moral attributions about the people that occupy the space and about the uses of the territory; (c) there is an evident tension about the limited access to the low-income population, with notable symbolic gentrification; (d) with regard to the business owners placed on the beach, there is an attempt by the government to limit the occupation process, however, in a disorganized fashion; (e) the formulation of specific public policies for the management of spaces on the Praia da Cinelândia can represent an important ecopedagogical process in which different actors who go the beach regularly can be included in decisions that will have direct influence on the socioenvironmental perceptions of that ‘place’.