The Politics of Agrarian Reform in Brazil - (Social Movements and Transformation) by Wilder Robles (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The Politics of Agrarian Reform in Brazil examines the interrelationships among peasant mobilization, agrarian reform and cooperativism in contemporary Brazil. Specifically, it addresses the challenges facing peasant movements in their pursuit of political and economic democracy. The book takes as a point of reference the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the most dynamic force for progressive social change in Latin America today. Robles and Veltmeyer argue that the MST has effectively practiced the politics of land occupation and the politics of agricultural cooperativism to consolidate the food sovereignty model of agrarian reform. However, the rapid expansion of the corporate-led agribusiness model, which is supported by Brazil's political elite, has undermined the MST's efforts. The authors argue that despite intense peasant mobilization, agrarian reform remains an unfulfilled political promise in Brazil.

Review Quotes

"This book is a great contribution to the study of agrarian reform in contemporary Brazil. Employing an interdisciplinary theoretical perspective supported by field research, Robles and Veltmeyer critically examine the socio-economic forces that have shaped two different and diametrically opposed visions of agricultural development in Brazil: the corporate-led agribusiness and peasant-led food sovereignty models." - Bernardo Mançano Fernandes, Professor and Chair, Cátedra UNESCO de Educação do Campo e Desenvolvimento Territorial, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Brazil

"This is an outstanding study of the most dynamic social movement in contemporary Latin America, the Landless Rural Workers Movement of Brazil (MST). The study links the development of capitalism to the unfolding of agro-export development strategies in Brazil and to the rise of a mass popular resistance movement of uprooted and exploited landless rural workers. This book should be required reading foradvanced undergraduate courses and graduate seminars, especially those concerned with interdisciplinary approaches to Latin American development in general, and the interplay of peasant mobilization, agrarian reform, and co-operative formation in particular." - James Petras, Professor Emeritus, Binghamton University, USA

"This timely and important study in the politics of agrarian reform takes a fresh new look at the Western hemisphere's largest social movement. Robles and Veltmeyer clearly demonstrate how the Brazilian state has persistently sidestepped the development needs of most rural dwellers, pursuing a blend of cooptation and repression instead of the substantial land reform that the country requires. Their critical approach combines social class analysis with nearly a decade of field research that chronicles the valiant struggle of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) to transform Brazil's rural social relations." - R.A. Dello Buono, Professor of Sociology, Manhattan College, USA, and co-author of Latin America After the Neoliberal Debacle (2009)

"The great strength of this book is the way it integrates a detailed analysis of three decades of popular struggle for land with the wider context of Brazil's transformation and the contending debates on Latin America's development path." - Cristóbal Kay, Emeritus Professor, International Institute of Social Studies, the Netherlands

About the Author

Wilder Robles is Assistant Professor of Rural Development at Brandon University, Canada.

Henry Veltmeyer is Research Professor, Development Studies PhD Program, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico.