Challenging Social Inequality: The Landless Rural Workers Movement and Agrarian Reform in Brazil by Miguel Carter (review)

Miguel Carter has brought together, in a single volume, a fascinating, comprehensive and timely collection that examines the Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra [MST]). The book explores the emergence and role of the MST and the ongoing struggle for agrarian reform within the context of large-scale socioeconomic inequality, a factor that has historically shaped social conflict in rural Brazil. Drawing on extensive multidisciplinary research by scholars in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, a main theme of the chapters focuses on the activities of Latin America’s largest and most expressive social movement and the constraints of implementing a comprehensive project of agrarian reform as well as the socioeconomic and political impact of the MST on Brazilian society.

The book is organized into four sections. The first part examines the issue of agrarian reform and the emergence of rural social movements in a historical perspective, underscoring the role of the Catholic Church and popular mobilization in rural Brazil. The second part explores the emergence of the MST and its actions in different regions throughout Brazil. The third part focuses on the organization of rural land settlements and the process of building community among the landless, in a local and regional perspective. The fourth part investigates the political and social impact and implications of the MST in Brazilian society, which has, since its emergence, continuously contested prevailing notions of individual rural property ownership. The body of work presented by the authors makes an important contribution to the current literature, providing a critical view into the regional differences ranging from the well-to-do south to the impoverished north and northeastern regions of Brazil. The collection provides in-depth analytical studies that integrate investigative research and firsthand in-loco surveys of Brazil’s most vibrant social movement.

Challenging Social Inequality provides a rich account of the complex interactions between the MST and other social movements, underscoring the importance of building solidarity among distinct groups with an array of competing interests, demands, and political projects. In this sense, the movement’s long- and short-term strategy and tactics, land occupations, and cultural, political, and economic agenda are intricate components of a larger political project that seeks to expand the political participation of sectors of Brazilian population that have been historically left on the sidelines of society. This debate is particularly important when examining the role of the MST in politics and society.

One noteworthy feature of the collection explores the complex relations between the MST and institutional politics under the presidency of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 1995–2003, Social Democratic Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira [PSDB]), and the governments of Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva, 2003–2010, and Dilma Rouseff, 2011 to present—the two latter of the Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores [PT]). One of the more arguable issues raised by the collections editor and the focus of the book’s epilogue examines the relationship between the MST and the PT, traditionally historic allies in Brazilian politics.

The authors explore the role of land reform in Brazilian politics and society, focusing on two crucial issues. First, they provide the broader political arguments driving the agrarian reform movement, particularly how activists shape their demands within the scope of national politics. The claims of rural activists are grounded, in large part, on the article of the Brazilian constitution that states that rural land ownership must exercise a social function—that is, the ownership of unoccupied or unused land held for purely speculative reasons can be the object of challenge. The second moment examines the continued pressure by the MST on national governments, particularly the PT presidencies (2003–present), because of the party’s historical defense of land reform.

Sue Branford focuses on the repeated attempts by the Cardoso administration to challenge the...