Selling Paradise: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Gated Condominium Development in the Ecological Route of the Miracles, Alagoas, Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21669/tomo.v44.23671

Keywords:

Beach Access, Paradise, Gated Condominium, Sociology, Tourism

Abstract

The Ecological Route of the Miracles (REM) in Alagoas, Brazil, has undergone rapid coastal development since 2015, driven by a surge in gated condominiums (GCs). Using Bourdieu’s concept of the economic field, this study analyzes the supply side of real estate production, examining developers’ profiles, capital, and legitimizing narratives expressed on Instagram. Seventeen firms responsible for 65 GCs were grouped into pioneer specialists, specialists, and established broad-based companies. Patterns of spatial concentration, capital conversion, and competition emerge. A longitudinal analysis of Podium’s Instagram posts (2015–2025) shows how the REM is constructed as a luxurious, exclusive, and investable paradise. Developers thus shape material and symbolic control over beach access, naturalizing social hierarchies through narratives of dreams, expertise, and privilege

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Author Biographies

Marina Sartore, Federal University of Sergipe

She holds a degree in Social Sciences from the Federal University of São Carlos (2003) and a Master’s in Production Engineering with an emphasis on Organizational Work Dynamics from the Federal University of São Carlos (2006). She completed a Sandwich Doctorate at the Center for European Sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in the academic year 2007/2008. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the Federal University of São Carlos. She carried out postdoctoral research at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (2018/2019) at the Centre for Urban Research (CUR) and at the University of the Sunshine Coast at the Sustainability Research Centre (SRC) in Australia. Visiting Professor at Clersé (Univ. of Lille) in 2023 and 2024 – in 2024 funded by the MESHS program. Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna, Italy (2024). She has experience in Sociology, with an emphasis on Economic Sociology, working mainly on the following topics: Social Construction of Markets, Forms of Commercial Appropriation of the Coastline, Beach Bars, Assessment and Valuation Tools, Corporate Sustainability, and Responsible Investment. She is an Associate Professor IV of Sociology at the Federal University of Sergipe – São Cristóvão Campus. She also works in the Graduate Program in Sociology at the Federal University of Sergipe. She is the leader of the Laboratory for Studies on Markets and Organizations in Society (LEMOS), certified by CNPq. Current supervision interests: studies that seek to understand the disputes over the commercial appropriation of nature, especially the coastline. She is the current editor-in-chief of Revista TOMO of the Graduate Program in Sociology at UFS.

Wanderson Gomes, Federal University of Sergipe

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the Institute of Social Sciences at the Federal University of Alagoas (ICS-UFAL), completed in 2013; a Master’s degree from the Graduate Program in Sociology at the Federal University of Alagoas (PPGS-UFAL), completed in 2015; a specialization in Public Policy Management and Evaluation (IUPERJ-UCAM), completed in 2022; and is currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology at the Graduate Program in Sociology at the Federal University of Sergipe (PPGS-UFS). He worked as a researcher at the Observatory of Creative Economy and Tourism Economy of the State of Alagoas (OBECT/SEDETUR/FAPEAL/ICS/UFAL) and as a Research Assistant at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). He has experience in Sociology, with an emphasis on Economic Sociology, focusing mainly on the following topics: public policies, social construction of markets, tourism markets, socioeconomic disputes over coastal appropriation, and socio-spatial inequality. He is currently a CAPES fellow and a researcher at the Laboratory for Studies on Markets and Organizations in Society (LEMOS-UFS).

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2025-12-29

How to Cite

Sartore, M., & José Francisco Gomes, W. (2025). Selling Paradise: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Gated Condominium Development in the Ecological Route of the Miracles, Alagoas, Brazil. TOMO Review, 44, e23671. https://doi.org/10.21669/tomo.v44.23671

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Vol. 44 (2025): TOMO Journal (Rolling Pass)

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Special Issue - Coastal Squeeze: Beaches under Socio-Economic and Ecological Pressure

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