The Social Dynamics of Brazil's Rural Landless Workers' Movement: Ten Hypotheses on Successful Leadership* (original) (raw)

The landless rural workers movement (MST) in Brazil

Journal of Peasant Studies, 2001

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Transformation and ‘human values’ in the Landless Workers’ Movement of Brazil

Ethnos, 2013

Social movements often seek transformation in wider society, but they are also themselves subject to the fluidity and ephemerality of the environments in which they operate. Academic literature has long held the view that social movements inevitably come to be beset by institutionalisation and a loss of relevance, and in Brazil, where socio-economic change has been so dynamic, the future of the Landless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST)) has been called into question. This article argues that the MST is responding to changes in its membership, and transformation more widely in Brazil, in a measured way, by drawing upon a familiar repertoire of cooperativisation to boost production. The article suggests that decline is not necessarily certain, but as a case study for movements more generally, current MST leadership decisions may be significant in understanding how social movements can best react to unpredictable transformations in wider society.

The Movement of the Landless Rural Workers: Issues of Development in Brazil

Journal of Comparative Social Welfare, 2007

Development and modernization are thought to go hand in hand. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund compel nations to ''modernize and develop'' through free enterprise capitalism, increased economic growth and Gross Domestic Product, inclusion in global markets, privatization of national assets, and cuts in social spending. However, even when countries achieve some level of economic prosperity and development, the majority of their people lag behind, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Drawing on Sen's social choice theory, this paper examines the alternative development model proposed by the Movement of the Brazilian Rural Landless Workers.

The Landless Rural Workers Movement and Democracy in Brazil

Latin American Research Review, 2010

This article takes issue with infl uential views in Brazil that depict the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), the largest popular movement in this country, as a threat to democracy. Contrary to these assessments, it argues that a sober review of the MST's actual practice shows that it is far from an antistate or antidemocratic organization. Quite to the contrary, the MST demands that the state play an active part in reducing the nation's stark social inequities through the institution of an inclusive model of development. The MST's contentious edge has contributed to Brazil's ongoing democratization process by (1) highlighting the role of public activism in building political capabilities among the poor and catalyzing downward redistribution policies; (2) facilitating the extension of basic citizenship rights, broadening the scope of the public agenda, and strengthening civil society through the inclusion of groups representing the most vulnerable strata of the population; and (3) fostering a sense of hope and utopia through the affi rmation of ideals imbued in Brazil's long-term, complex, and open-ended democratization process.

Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement: a Replicable Strategy for Social Change?

Despite the fact that the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) in Brazil was founded in 1985 and is therefore more than 20 years old, the available literature is concentrated mainly in articles and these, as well as the few books about the movement are mostly recent publications. The main reasons for that are not only the growth of the movement but also a changing focus of the political and social sciences and the public interest. The MST is counted as a regional force within the world wide anti-neoliberal struggle and is not longer looked at as a pure interest group. In front of this the question arises if the MST offers a strategy for social change to be replicated elsewhere? (Leeds 2010)

Socialist Values and Cooperation in Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers’ Movement

When the Movimento de Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra do Brasil (Movement of Landless Rural Workers’ of Brazil—MST) occupies land and forms autonomous agricultural communities, it aspires to achieve the supremacy of labor over capital and to embody socialist values. However, a policy of organizing production cooperatives on its settlements in the early 1990s was unsuccessful, principally because of a failure fully to respect traditional forms of work and sociability. However, the MST learned from its early mistakes and has since developed elaborate forms of informal and formal cooperation on land that is essentially the common property of a democratic settlement association. It is therefore living up to its socialist objectives and manifesting a real alternative to capitalist work and property relations. The authors extend their thanks to "Latin American Perspectives", where this paper was originally published, for permission to upload it here.