The pathways of desire at the margins of the São Francisco River in Juazeiro, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

This article explores the pathways of desire emerging at the margins of the São Francisco River in Juazeiro, Bahia, through an ethnographic approach centered on the experiences of individuals who frequent this territory. The analysis focuses on the intersections between sexuality, economic vulnerability, and territoriality, highlighting how encounters and sexual practices at the margins produce subjectivities and reconfigure the urban space. Based on Jefferson's trajectory, one of the main interlocutors, the study discusses the dynamics between pleasure, risk, and precariousness that characterize these interactions. The concept of "territoriality of desire," inspired by Néstor Perlongher, is employed to understand how these spaces are not merely sites of exclusion but creative territories challenging social norms and producing new forms of sociability. Ultimately, the study reinforces the notion of the margin as a space of invention and transformation, where desire operates as a productive force, connecting bodies, affections, and territories in continuous flows.