Subordination, resistance and autonomy of the peasantry in rural settlement in Brazil

Abstract

The process of re-peasantization in Brazil occurs primarily through the peasant struggle for land and agrarian reform. After the land access, the peasant reproduction occurs through the subordination and dependence to the global agro-food systems. In these last decades, dependency and subordination is gradually impoverishing and marginalizing the peasantry. The struggle for autonomy arises in these contexts as opposed to the subordination to industrial and financial capital. At the heart of the struggle for autonomy that peasants are making local agro-food systems. The aim of this seminar is to discuss the process of peasant subordination to the global agro-food system and the peasant autonomy in the construction of local agro-food systems in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, south of Brazil. The presentation examines the context and the dynamics of these processes in the cultivation of agroecological rice and vegetables and conventional soybean in rural settlements organized by the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). In the case of agroecological rice and vegetables peasants control the cultivation, industrialization and commercialization of these foods, defining how to produce, where to market and what prices. Even the seeds are produced by the peasants. In the case of conventional soybean peasants depend on seeds and agricultural inputs from large companies. While in the first case the peasants are struggle for autonomy through the construction of local agro-food systems, in the second case the peasants are totally subordinated to the global agro-food system. Analyzing both processes is key to advancing studies on the peasantry and this is the contribution of this seminar.