Lecture 2 - Land struggles in Brazil

Question 1

Kings north 2003

Answer 1

‘Land - what it produces, who lives on it, how it is organised, how it is owned, the cultures that spring from it - is one of the fundamental pillars of human society’

Question 2

Ballad of Mato Grosso musicians

Answer 2

‘All the land belongs to the rich,
Who have it all signed and sealed,
And the poor have lots their rights,
To all but the grave.

Question 3

What’s local agenda 21?

Answer 3

LA21–> ‘bottom-up’ local empowerment - teaching people how to be sustainable individuals.

Question 4

Importance of land access in Brazil

Answer 4

Economic - means of production - relying on the land
Social justice - inequality
Ecology - fertility of the soils
Culture & identity - how we humans use the land

Question 5

Landless —> destitution

                  Vs.

Answer 5

Landed —> future orientation / hope

Question 6

Land ownership in Brazil is very unequal…

How much % of population owns 90% land?

Answer 6

20% of population own 90% of the land

Question 7

How much land do the poorer people have?

Answer 7

Small holdings (less than 10 hectares) makes up half of the holdings in Brazil…. BUT only 2% of Land .. they have land but not enough.

Question 8

What are Minifundos?

Answer 8

Small holdings
Used by families to make a living from the land
Selling produce themselves in the local market

Question 9

What are Latifundos?

Answer 9

Plantation estates (large)
Cattle ranches
Haciendas -state houses from colonial period

Global markets / cash crops
A big exporting country - sugar, soya, coffee, cotton

Question 10

90% of the large holdings (1000+ ha) are uncultivated (not used substantial amounts)
Why?

Answer 10

Absentee owners - living in cities in Brazil or other countries
Foreign ownership - people buy land for the sake of it / inherited

Question 11

Landowners are politically powerful because they all stick together. What does the government do about it?

Answer 11

They’re avoiding land reform as they’re reluctant to deal with the land owners.
Instead they give money to local people to move to Amazonia (Amazon basin rainforest) to own land there.

Question 12

What’s the problem with governments sending local people to the Amazon basin with money to live there?

Answer 12

Poor infrastructure and support 
Rapid land degradation 
Land battles 
Displacement by cattle ranchers 
Conflict with rubber tappers 
& native people already living there

Question 13

When did Brazil return to democracy?

Answer 13

1985

Question 14

Land concentration and idleness increased after Brazil returning to democracy… why?

Answer 14

Agricultural markets liberalised -> cheap food imports - locals couldn’t compete with the cheap prices at the markets
Just 2% producers benefited from exports
Huge decline in small farms
Migration to urban slums - flavelos

Question 15

What’s the MST?

Answer 15

Landless workers movement
Founded in 1984
1.5 million informal members across 24/26 states of Brazil

Question 16

What does the MST say?

Answer 16

The organization maintains that it is legally justified in occupying unproductive land, pointing to the most recent Constitution of Brazil (1988), which contains a passage saying that land should fulfill a social function (Article 5, XXIII).

Question 17

How many families has the MST settled?

Answer 17

350,000+ families

Question 18

How do they carry out their tasks?

Answer 18

Highly organised and disciplined… find places where there’s land issues then sort it out in a civilised manner.

Question 19

The MST adopted a model of ‘cutting the wire’

What are the 3 stages?

Answer 19

Occupy
Resist
Produce

Question 20

The land Passover is a long process - up to a few years due to…

Answer 20

Legitimation sought by government land reform body - have to prove that you want to use the land
Focus on idle land or land under export crops
(Idle land - land that’s not used or used at a very low rate)

Question 21

(MST) settlements emphasise:

Answer 21

Cooperative production - organic - more money at markets
Education and health services - not just land - about building a community - gender equality - schools - healthcare
Environment - they must recognise the eco-system - don’t over cultivate and think about the animals living there

Question 22

Widespread national support for the MST

Answer 22

77% support for MST
85% approve occupations
Social media helps to publicly legitimise it and helps with security
International support networks

Question 23

Wittman 2005 - processes of emplacement

Answer 23

Occupation: individuals to imagined community (individuals coming together)
Camp: imagined community to collectivity (schools / services)
Settlement: collectivity to place-based community (new village - community and land ownership is legitimate)

Question 24

Hoffman & Fox, 2017

Answer 24

‘We have to construct our lines in the encampments as if we are already building our settlements. We have to set up more permanent housing. We have to grow food. We have to form cooperatives in the encampments, even though the land is not permitted for settlement, it’s another way of doing things and we need to prepare ourselves for the difficult time ahead’

Question 25

MST and their values

Answer 25

Anti-agribusiness (maintain connection to the land)
Anti-GM (organic everything)
Part of global anti-neoliberalism movement

Question 26

MST member, quoted in Kingsnorth, 2003

Answer 26

‘It’s not just about getting land, but about understanding how to live in a different society’

Question 27

Political demands of the MST

Answer 27

Legalise last land occupations
Maximum farm size of 500ha
Expropriate land belonging to multinational companies/ land obtained illegally
Allow rural workers to settle where they live
Environmental conservation and regeneration
Punish the murderers of rural workers involved in land conflicts