HISTORICAL ASPECTS THAT INFLUENCE THE PERPETUATION OF POVERTY IN SANTA CATARINA’ S NORTH PLATEAU REGION.

Although the State of Santa Catarina is considered one of the most developed States of the federation, the territory of North Plateau in Santa Catarina stands out due to its alarming levels of social inequality, which is reflected in the incidence of poverty among its inhabitants. The objective of this article is to analyze the historical aspects that still influence the perpetuation of poverty in the North Plateau region of Santa Catarina, with due qualification that eventual comparisons may refer to other regions of the state. The approach exposes two perspectives of poverty and historically examines poverty in Brazil and in the Plateau region of Santa Catarina, focusing on public invisibility and the caboclo way of life, long since underlined by relationships of solidarity, coming from customs practiced by the residents of rural neighborhoods. It is evident that the historical process of the concentration of land ownership, mainly resulting from the use of foreign capital, which once deeply affected the caboclo way of life and contributed to the outbreak of ´The Sertanejo movement of Contestado´ (1912-1916), still remains in force today in the territory of Santa Catarina´s Plateau. The consequences of this process consist in the domain of the means of production and while in the control of a wealthy generation, renders the obliteration of poverty unfeasible. Considerable challenges now exist in the elaboration and implementation of alternatives that foster regional development and the distribution of wealth in order to reduce poverty in the territory of the Northern Plateau of Santa Catarina.