Trajetórias por dignidade: um estudo de caso das lutas por terra e reforma agrária no sul do Brasil

Abstract

The work in question analyzed the life trajectory of a family of settled farmers in southern Brazil, seeking to understand the relationship between the struggle for land, agrarian reform and the production of a dignified life in the countryside. The research was carried out in the Filhos de Sepé Settlement, in the municipality of Viamão, Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and used the qualitative “life history” methodology, which sought to listen to the voices and knowledge of those who have historically been excluded from the dominant narrative. Seu José and Dona Emília were born in the northwestern region of Rio Grande do Sul and migrated to the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre at the end of the 1990s, when they joined the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) in the struggle for land. The collective struggles resulted in common conquests of land and public policies for agrarian reform, enabling autonomy in the production of healthy food for self-consumption, as well as inclusion in cooperative activities, with access to organic food markets. The struggles also forged sociabilities sustained by strong bonds of community life and, at the same time, allowed access to education and work for the children and grandchildren of Mr. José and Mrs. Emília.