THE FIGHT TO FARMLAND: PRELIMINARY ASPECTS UPON ITS CHARACTERISTICS IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The essay concentrates on two principal points: (1) the multiplicity of meanings in the struggle for land in Brazil and (2) its sociocultural character, i.e., in its creative force and in the coexistence of different social forms of daily social relations. It is argued that this struggle does not occur only on the visible side of the conflict; its hidden side is also important. As a manifestation of specific necessities, the struggle for land can be transformed into another type of demonstration, as long as there is a change in those necessities. But this manifestation does not possess a passive character. It is shown that as it emerges into the social field, the struggle for land engenders new phenomena, and also shows itself capable of contributing to a modification of the list of necessities itself. Finally, the conditions of the struggle for land in Brazil is presented by means of a brief discussion of the peculiarities of some of the different persons involved in the question: the Indians, the squatters and those without land, in addition to a rapid commentary on the "moradores" and sugarcane cutters of the "Zona da Mata" of the Brazilian Northeast.