The multi-scalar determinants of rural out-migration in colonization areas of Roraima State, Brazil: an assessment of the displacement forces of frontier development upon the rural poor.

Alexandre M.A. Diniz, PUCMINAS
Reinaldo Santos, Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional (CEDEPLAR)

The literature on development of agricultural frontiers is impregnated with constructs that postulate that frontier evolution follows a set of hierarchical stages, moving from pre-capitalist to capitalist forms of production. Accordingly, as a given settlement evolves through time, in-migration wanes and earlier settlers are displaced by incoming capitalized agents. Nevertheless, not every settler moves out. This study explores the multi-scalar determinants of length of rural residence in colonization areas of Roraima during the late 1990’s, based on census data. Specifically, this study classifies length of residence among colonist farmers into categories, specifying prevailing socioeconomic conditions at each group. By doing so, we explore how poverty relates to out-migration, while testing a group of hypotheses associated with major theoretical approaches to migration (Migration Selectivity and Human Capital; New Economics of Migration Labor (NELM); Life Cycle; Social Capital and Social Networks and Historical-Structural).