Roots of the regional question in the São Paulo State: Considerations on the Ribeira Valley

Abstract

This text discusses on the problem of the regional disparities in the São Paulo State and analyses the causes of the economic stagnation of the region of the Ribeira Valley. It’s made a historical profile of the regional economic formation in São Paulo State, since the century XVI to middles of the present century, through the cycles of gold, of naval construction, of rice and of banana. The placed arguments answer the explanations based on the thesis of the regional imperialism. The conclusion is that the decadence and stagnation of the area was due to a conjugation of historical and geographical factors, such as the end of the slavery, the geographical isolation, the regional lack of aptitude for the coffee cultivation and the difficulty of settling of free labour (immigrants) in the area. Key-words: Regional Development, Underdevelopment, Ribeira Valley