GRUPOS DE PODER E TERRITÓRIO: OS SUÁBIOS DO DANÚBIO, SEGREGAÇÃO E COOPERAÇÃO NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DO CENTRO-SUL DO PARANÁ

Abstract

The proposal of this research was to comprehend how the Danube Swabians, immigrants from Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania) are constituted as a political and economic power group and the contribution of this group to the development of the region of Guarapuava, in south-central Paraná, Brazil. The Danube Swabians were expelled from southeastern Europe to live in refugee camps in Austria after the Second World War. As a result, 500 families enrolled in a project that aimed to create an agricultural cooperative in Brazil with governmental incentives. After their arrival in Brazil, they founded Cooperativa Agrária in 1951. In terms of methodological procedures, the investigation was based on qualitative research obtained by collecting documentary data about the cooperative, the cultural, political and economic life of the immigrants, institutions secondary data and interviews. As a result, we found that the installation of that group contributed/cooperated economically with the county, but not homogeneously, with the implementation of new farming techniques and the jobs creation. In the other hand, the settlement of the Swabians resulted in a process of territorial segregation and in an intense self-appreciation of Germanic traditions and culture.