Social skills in the milk market

Abstract

In Southern Brazil the family farmer cooperative growth shows the defi ciency of the majority of market studies. These studies foresee an inexorable globalization process, market concentration and exclusion of the poorest producers. The objective of this article is to understand how stable milk offering for the cooperative is guaranteed in a competitive environment, even with few economic resources. The sociological market study shows that important position in the market was occupied because of the social skills of the cooperative. These skills are expressed by the capacities to mobilize social and symbolic capital, to form a new social identity, to stimulate the cooperation and to maintain stable relations with suppliers. Conclusions point out that only a territorial approach of the markets can understand why varied organizations of producers are formed and why not economic factors are determinant for the competition.