Constituição e remodelagem do mercado mineiro de cachaça de alambique: uma abordagem à luz de práticas sociotécnicas para o estudo de mercados

Abstract

The sociotechnical movements of the alembic cachaça market in the State of Minas Gerais have been promoting a restructuring of its network of agents and a re-signification of the product itself (alembic cachaça) throughout its history, which have caused significant changes in the market. Therefore, this dissertation proposes to investigate the constitution and reconfiguration of the formal market of alembic cachaça from the perspective of its different agents, emphasizing the reconfiguration of the sociotechnical practices that constitute this market. We collected primary and secondary data through an empirical study from a constructivist perspective and using a qualitative methodology, respecting the issues of credibility, transferability, reliability, and confirmability of data sources. We used thematic content analysis and document analysis. The study rescued the history of the cachaça market’s emergence in Brazil and Minas Gerais, presenting its evolution over time, both in the question of human (social) and non-human (technical) agents for performativity and the creation of the Actor-Network of this market. We found that this market comprises sociotechnical practices that harbor a set of knowledge and assumptions such as values, beliefs, social, cultural, and historical convictions, which constantly configure and remodel this market. We verified that these practices and assumptions regulate (and deregulate) and are implemented in the daily life of the various interrelationships of its agents.