Almonds Must Be Whole !: tradition, technology, education and gender relations
in the babassu coconut production chain
Coconut breakers, Babassu coconut, Agroextractivism, Escola Família Agrícola, Gender, Development.
This text is characterized as an ethnographic narrative exercise about the reality experienced by quebradeiras de coco babaçu (babassu coconut breakers). Quebradeira de coco are the identity assumed by women, due to the work they perform. It is an activity traditionally carried out by women from childhood to adulthood. This research focused on the daily life of rural / agroextractive communities located in the Médio Mearim, micro-region of the state of Maranhão. The practice of participant observation took place in the years 2016 and 2017. This is a feminist anthropological study of gender relations within the scope of the babassu production chain. Interactions and speeches of local agents are addressed around the proposal of mechanization of work, in communities that integrate the Association in Settlement Areas of the State of Maranhão (ASSEMA), and of the routine at Escola Família Agrícola Antonio Fontenele (EFAAF) and in the community of São Manoel. The context is interpreted through two analytical axes: gender and development.