A problemática da fome no nordeste brasileiro: expressões da desigualdade social no contexto contemporâneo de desenvolvimento do capitalismo periférico

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze, based on the concept of regional issues, the current socio-historical determinations of hunger in the Brazilian northeast, considering the historical persistence of this problem. To this end, we conducted qualitative research adopting a dialectical historical materialist approach. This analysis implied an understanding of the social obstacles to the development of a peripheral capitalist country, its dramatic internal inequality expressed by the regional issue; in addition to problematizing the political actions to combat hunger in Brazil in the 21st century. The result of the study leads us to conclude that the persistence of the scourge is not explained by the scarcity of food or inputs, but by multidimensional issues that particularize the social reproduction of poverty, unemployment and economic interests perpetrated in the monopolistic accumulation of land and rentier capital. Thus, the priorities in the elaboration, articulation and implementation of public policies in Brazil are aimed at corporate political and economic interests, to the detriment of the well-being of the population and social development. Overcoming the scourge of hunger and all forms of absolute poverty in the country requires a development model of structural changes capable of democratizing popular access to goods and production resources, in order to condition food sovereignty, environmental sustainability and human development.