O técnico da nova ATER: uma identidade profissional em construção. O caso da mesorregião sudeste do Pará

Abstract

The technical support and rural extension (ATER) in Brazil historically has been treated as an instrument of modernization of the Brazilian agricultural way, which means, the transformation of the “old” agriculturist into a “modern” agriculturist. In the same way the technician who works in it may be seen also as an instrument, an object, and never as an actor in this process. This work has the purpose of placing the technician in the center of the question, verifying the possibilities and ways to construct its professional identity in the context of ATER, which appeared in the Southeastern region of the state of Pará since 1997. This context demands abilities for which the technician has not been formed nor socialized, as the requirement of a participative position in regard to the agriculturist and the capacity of research, and this situation can provoke conflicts between the new required profile and the form of socialization and formation of the technician. The conclusion is that the regional environment is extremely favorable to the performance of the technician in the construction and reconstruction of its professional identity, what did not occur in the previous models of ATER, however, the technicist formation ends imposing barriers to the construction of the active behavior in regard to the innovations techniques specifically.