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| National Agrarian Movement (MST) | |
|---|---|
| Name | National Agrarian Movement (MST) |
| Native name | Movimento Sem Terra (Brazil) |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founders | João Pedro Stédile; Camilo Rodrigues; Darci Frigo |
| Headquarters | São Paulo, Brasil |
| Area served | Brazil |
| Membership | ~1,500,000 (est.) |
| Key people | João Pedro Stédile; Fábio Campos; Guilherme Boulos |
| Ideology | Land reform; Agrarianism; Socialism; Popular education |
National Agrarian Movement (MST) is a Brazilian social movement founded in 1984 that advocates for land reform, rural workers' rights, and agrarian restructuring through occupation and settlement strategies. The movement emerged from peasant mobilizations linked to trade union activism and Catholic base communities, combining direct action with cooperative agricultural projects. MST has influenced agricultural policy debates in Brazil, engaged with international solidarity networks, and remains a prominent actor in debates over rural development and social justice.
The movement traces roots to the 1970s peasant struggles in Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, and Bahia and to social mobilizations linked to Base Ecclesial Communities and the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement precursor groups, drawing activists from unions such as the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and allies within the National Confederation of Workers. Founders including João Pedro Stédile mobilized after Brazil's transition from Military dictatorship (1964–1985) to democratic rule, organizing mass occupations influenced by events like the Diretas Já campaign and the drafting of the 1988 Constitution of Brazil. During the 1990s the movement confronted administrations led by Fernando Henrique Cardoso while expanding occupations and settlements, interacting with international actors such as Via Campesina, Food and Agriculture Organization, and solidarity networks in France, Spain, and Portugal. In the 2000s MST negotiated with governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff over settlement projects, while resisting agribusiness expansion associated with corporations like JBS S.A., Bunge Limited, and Cargill. The movement's recent history includes clashes under Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro, and engagement with global climate debates at forums such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
MST articulates an ideology drawing from agrarianism, socialism, and liberation theology, seeking redistribution of unproductive latifundia through land reform inspired by models in Cuba, Zambia, and reformist policies in Japan and South Korea. Goals include redistributive access to land sanctioned by the Brazilian Constitution, promotion of agroecology linked to the Agroecology movement, and creation of cooperative settlements modeled on experiments akin to Israel's kibbutzim and Cuban cooperatives. MST aligns with transnational networks such as Via Campesina and endorses policies advocated by scholars like Ester Boserup and Miguel Altieri, opposing expansion by corporations exemplified by Monsanto and trade frameworks like the World Trade Organization agreements that affect smallholder markets. Political alliances have ranged from engagement with parties such as the Workers' Party (Brazil) to critique of neoliberal policies associated with International Monetary Fund conditionalities.
MST operates through regional coordination centers in states such as São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Ceará, with a federal coordination committee influenced by leaders like João Pedro Stédile and regional coordinators. Internal bodies include an education wing collaborating with institutions like the University of Campinas and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro for pedagogical training, a juridical team engaging with courts including the Supreme Federal Court (Brazil), and agricultural technicians liaising with agencies such as the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA). The movement organizes via local committees in settlements, thematic secretariats for health and production, and works with NGOs like Fundo Brasil de Direitos Humanos and international partners such as Oxfam and Greenpeace.
MST is known for orchestrating large-scale land occupations, often targeting estates owned by families linked to the Brazilian Rural Society and agribusiness firms; notable actions have occurred at properties associated with entities in Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, and Bahia. Occupations aim to trigger adjudication by INCRA and to establish collective farms and schools modeled after cooperative frameworks seen in Mondragon Corporation studies. Direct actions have included roadblocks, demonstrations in capitals like Brasília and São Paulo, and temporary encampments near estates owned by conglomerates such as Amaggi. Tactics prioritize nonviolent mass mobilization but have occasionally resulted in confrontations with private security forces linked to landowner associations like the Rural Democratic Union and interventions by state police forces such as those of São Paulo Police.
MST is not a political party but a registered social movement; its legal encounters have involved litigation before the Supreme Federal Court (Brazil) and negotiations with INCRA and ministries such as the Ministry of Agrarian Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply. Administrations have alternately recognized settlement claims, as under Lula da Silva, or pursued repression, as during the tenure of Jair Bolsonaro. The movement's legal strategy includes land regularization petitions, class actions in federal courts, and advocacy within the National Human Rights Council and at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
MST runs extensive social programs in settlements including schools inspired by pedagogy of Paulo Freire, health clinics coordinated with the Unified Health System (SUS), and agroecology projects supplying markets and fairs in cities like Porto Alegre and Fortaleza. Educational initiatives involve the movement's Florestan Fernandes National School and partnerships with universities such as University of São Paulo for research on sustainable agriculture, promoting seed sovereignty aligned with Campanhas em Defesa da Semente Crioula and training in permaculture methods advocated by practitioners in Mato Grosso.
Critics include large landowners organized in associations like the Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA) and political figures in parties such as the Brazilian Social Democracy Party who denounce MST occupations as illegal and disruptive to production chains involving firms like BRF S.A.. Human rights organizations including Amnesty International have documented both repression against MST members and allegations of violent incidents during confrontations. Legal disputes have arisen over property titles, and media outlets such as O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo have published contested accounts fueling polarizing political debates involving actors like Sergio Moro and Antonio Palocci.
Category:Social movements in Brazil