Ordem e progresso: colonização e desenvolvimento em Mato Grosso: o caso de Sinop

Abstract

Responsible at the same time for the occupation and emergence of prominent and important urban centers in Mato Grosso, as is the case of the municipality of Sinop, the colonization directed by private capital, has an assured place among those concerned with the regional economy and history and how they relate to the country's development trajectory. The theme also presents itself prominently for those who seek to formulate interpretive frameworks for such a recent situation, such as the case of the occupation of the territory of Mato Grosso led by the colonizers' enterprises. From this point of view, the colonization enterprises that multiply after 1964 gain importance. The intensity with which these projects took place in Mato Grosso since then, signal the existence of new articulations present within the Brazilian society, whose developments bring repercussions up to our days. In the present case, we seek to demonstrate that the colonization directed in Mato Grosso, having Sinop as its main reference, was the result of structural changes in society, the economy and the State, hence this case and so many similar ones that occurred in Mato Grosso territory distance themselves from the colonization experiences of the 1940s and 1950s. These practically remained restricted in certain areas, as exemplified by the cases of Corumbá in Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiânia in Goiás. The experiences of the National Agricultural Colonies due to a series of weaknesses and also due to the development pattern then in effect have made little progress either under the political-ideological perspective, whether under the socio-economic. Absolutely different from the experiences of the National Agricultural Colonies, colonization was largely stimulated after 1964. In this case the weaknesses had been overcome and the country was experiencing an important divide within the pattern of development, that is, the relations between State, economy and society they assumed new contours in which the options for classes and fractions of proprietary and ruling classes prevailed, whether