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The Politics of the MST

Autonomous Rural Communities, the State, and Electoral Politics

Centre for Development Studies at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands

Examination of the politicization of landless people in the encampments and settlements of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (Landless Rural Workers' Movement—MST) in Brazil suggests that the movement's success rest on the fact that it generates relatively autonomous rural communities organized around autonomous political structures that facilitate mobilization. These communities persist because their members, by protecting their right to land from full commoditization, ensuring an adequate production of food, and avoiding the full monetarization of their subsistence needs, are able to mitigate the effects of the market. In addition, in order to secure the survival and development of its settlements, the MST has integrated participation in institutional politics into its mobilization strategy. However, because of the nature of President Lula's policies, the continuity of the traditional alliance between the MST and the Workers' Party is bound to become a major issue.

Key Words: Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) • Land struggle • Politicization • Encampments • Settlements • Mobilization • Autonomy • Workers' Party

Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 36, No. 4, 178-191 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0094582X09338608


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