A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?

Land inequality in Brazil is alarming and several poor individuals living in rural areas do not have enough income to survive decently. The struggle to access land should lead to a paradigm shift with social movements leading this process since democratization. Their strategies vary, but usually foc...

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Main Author: Artur Zimerman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Librelloph 2016-02-01
Series:Journal of Human Security
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.librelloph.com/journalofhumansecurity/article/view/229
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author Artur Zimerman
author_facet Artur Zimerman
author_sort Artur Zimerman
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description Land inequality in Brazil is alarming and several poor individuals living in rural areas do not have enough income to survive decently. The struggle to access land should lead to a paradigm shift with social movements leading this process since democratization. Their strategies vary, but usually focus on complementary activities of mass mobilization that culminate in the occupation of unproductive land that is not fulfilling its social function in order to force expropriation and the creation of new settlements. This study aims to investigate, through empirical evidence, if such strategies are having the desired effect of allowing the poor to access land, without increasing the already high numbers, and potentially aggravating the violent characteristics, of such disputes. During the Cardoso and Lula presidential administrations the relation between the number of new settlements and the number of deaths caused by land disputes increased. However, there is still a long way to go to improve this policy and achieve positive results. Overall, is this struggle for the reduction of inequality in the Brazilian countryside being won? Is the sacrifice paying off? And what is the price regarding the relation between land conflict victims and the creation of new rural settlements?
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spelling doaj.art-4a587b02a9f14f8485fc8a53a71aa8092022-12-22T01:11:18ZengLibrellophJournal of Human Security1835-38002016-02-01121375110.12924/johs2016.1201003788A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?Artur Zimerman0Engineering, Modeling and Applied Social Sciences Center (CECS), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), São Paulo State, BrazilLand inequality in Brazil is alarming and several poor individuals living in rural areas do not have enough income to survive decently. The struggle to access land should lead to a paradigm shift with social movements leading this process since democratization. Their strategies vary, but usually focus on complementary activities of mass mobilization that culminate in the occupation of unproductive land that is not fulfilling its social function in order to force expropriation and the creation of new settlements. This study aims to investigate, through empirical evidence, if such strategies are having the desired effect of allowing the poor to access land, without increasing the already high numbers, and potentially aggravating the violent characteristics, of such disputes. During the Cardoso and Lula presidential administrations the relation between the number of new settlements and the number of deaths caused by land disputes increased. However, there is still a long way to go to improve this policy and achieve positive results. Overall, is this struggle for the reduction of inequality in the Brazilian countryside being won? Is the sacrifice paying off? And what is the price regarding the relation between land conflict victims and the creation of new rural settlements?http://www.librelloph.com/journalofhumansecurity/article/view/229Agrarian conflictsagrarian reformBrazilmobilizationland inequalitysocial movements
spellingShingle Artur Zimerman
A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?
Journal of Human Security
Agrarian conflicts
agrarian reform
Brazil
mobilization
land inequality
social movements
title A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?
title_full A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?
title_fullStr A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?
title_full_unstemmed A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?
title_short A Piece of Land or Peace on the Land: How Much Is a Peasant's Life Worth in Brazil?
title_sort piece of land or peace on the land how much is a peasant s life worth in brazil
topic Agrarian conflicts
agrarian reform
Brazil
mobilization
land inequality
social movements
url http://www.librelloph.com/journalofhumansecurity/article/view/229
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