Abstract
Throughout Brazil, landless resisters are being violently victimized at the discretion of large landowners. The main goals of this article are to (1) Explain the historical and current conditions that have facilitated the violent oppression experienced by the landless movement, (2) illustrate the mass violence experienced by the landless population, (3) provide a review of the existing research regarding the relationship between land reform, violence, and state strength, (4) introduce a new explanation of decentralized state power in relationship to the persistence of violence against the landless movement. I explore the Brazilian landless movement through content analyses, fieldwork, and a review of existing data. The approach used to study and understand the powers associated with the landless movement is unique to the existing literature of the Brazilian landless movement in that it moves beyond advocacy towards a criminological and political analysis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) (www.cptnac.com.br) is a Catholic organization which used its political power during the military dictatorship to protect peasants and their rights, and continues to fight for the land and human rights in the Brazilian countryside.
The CPT, led by lower ranking priests and a liberal theology, openly acknowledges and supports the MST, but has no power in the actual movement. The CPT is currently active with indigenous movements and landless not affiliated to the MST. Because of this separation from the Church, the MST only receives social support from the Church and other movements. However, the actors that support the movement are influenced with a strong understanding of the problems associated with poverty and landlessness.
A settlement is land that has been expropriated to the landless community for housing, sustainable living, and education. Land may be expropriated at the local, state, or federal level.
Encampments are “spaces of struggle and … collective action, located in the countryside … where landless families demand settlements” (CPT 2005, p. 14).
The GNI of Brazil is 552.1 billion of US dollars (World Development Report 2006).
61 of these cases individuals were minors.
Slave labor is reported to the CPT by victims, families of victims, and rural syndicates.
For example, On October 21, 2007, Valmir Mota de Oliveira (Known as “Keno”), an activist and landless leader, was shot two times point-blank range by security guards hired by the transnational Swiss corporation Syngenta.
References
Arrigo, B. (2000). Social justice and critical criminology: On integrating knowledge. Contemporary Justice Review, 3(1), 7–37.
Arruda, M. (1994). Brazil: Drowning in Debt. In 50 Years is enough: The case against the World Bank and the international monetary fund. Boston, MA: South End Press.
Betto, F. (2008). Abolish the MST, or the unproductive latifundos? Grassroots International from www.biodiversidadela.org.
Branford, S., & Rocha, J. (2002). Cutting the wire: The story of the landless movement in Brazil. London: Latin American Bureau.
Comissão Pastoral da Terra. www.cptnac.com.br.
Commisão Pastoral da Terra. (2006). Conflitos no Campo Brasil 2005 CPT, Goiâna- GO.
Federal Constitution of Brazil. (1988). From planalto.gov.br.
Fleisher, D. (1996). Political corruption in Brazil. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 25(4), 297–321.
Fontes, G. (2004). Interview with Geraldo Fontes of the MST. In Motion magazine, September 2, inmotionmagazine.com.
Geddes, B., & Neto, A. R. (1992). Institutional sources of corruption in Brazil. Third World Quarterly, 13(4), 641–651.
Human Rights Watch. (2009). World report from http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2009.
Kauzlarich, D., & Kramer, R. C. (1998). Crimes of the American nuclear state: At home and abroad. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
Marques, R. M., & Nakatani, P. (2007). The state and economy in Brazil. Monthly Review, 58(8). www.monthlyreview.org.
Midlarsky, M., & Roberts, K. (1985). Class, state, and revolution in central America: Nicaragua and El Salvador compared. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 29(2), 163–193.
Mullins, C. W., & Rothe, D. L. (2008). Blood, power, and bedlam: Violations of international criminal law in post-colonial Africa. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.
Prillaman, W. (2000). The judiciary and democratic decay in Latin America: Declining confidence in the rule of law. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Quinny, R. (1980). Class, state, and crime. United Kingdom: Longman Group.
Rose, R. S. (2005). The unpast: Elite violence and social control in Brazil, 1954–2000. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Stedile, J. P. (2002). Landless battalions: The Sem Terra movement of Brazil. New Left Review, Transnational Institute Agrofuels: Towards a Reality Check in Nine Key Areas June, 2007, tni.org/reports/ctw/agrofuels.pdf.
Unknown Author. (1981). Comissão de Justiça defende Religiosos. Diario de Pernambuco September 9, p. 3d.
Weyland, K. (1998). The politics of corruption in Latin America. Journal of Democracy, 9(2), 108–121.
Whittman, H. (2005). Agrarian reform under lula- marching to a historic crossroads. Mstbrazil.org, February 26, 2005.
World Bank. (2006). World development report.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Heil, E.C. The Brazilian Landless Movement, Resistance, and Violence. Crit Crim 18, 77–93 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-009-9090-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-009-9090-z