Brazilian Agrarian Social Movements

Contradictions between impressive levels of economic growth and the persistence of poverty and inequality are perhaps nowhere more evident than in rural Brazil. While Brazil might appear to be an example of the potential harmony between large-scale, export-oriented agribusiness and small-scale family farming, high levels of rural resistance contradict this vision. In this volume, individual contributions from a variety of researchers across the field highlight seven key characteristics of contemporary Brazilian resistance that have broader resonance in the region and beyond: the growth of international networks, the changing structure of state–society collaboration, the deepening of territorial claims, the importance of autonomy, the development of alternative economies, continued opposition to dispossession, and struggles over the meaning of nature. By analyzing rural mobilization in Brazil, this collection offers a range of insights relevant to rural contention globally. Each contribution in this title increases our understanding of alternative agricultural production, large-scale development projects, education, race and political parties in the contemporary agrarian context. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Peasant Studies.

Rebecca Tarlau is a Postdoctoral Scholar in Education at Stanford University, affiliated with the Lemann Center for Educational Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Brazil. She received an M.A. and Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies from the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in Anthropology and Latin American Studies from the University of Michigan. Rebecca’s research focuses on the relationship between states, social movements, and educational reform. Her scholarship engages in debates in the fields of political sociology, international and comparative education, critical pedagogy, global and transnational sociology, and social theory. Anthony Pahnke is currently employed as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science and Environmental Studies at St Olaf College, Northfield Minnesota. He spent roughly two years in Brazil, researching state and MST practices in education, agrarian reform, and agricultural production. His interests extend beyond social movements to include political economy, state theory, and qualitative methods.