The multifunctionality of agriculture present in The Brazilian Revolution, by Caio Prado Júnior

Abstract

In the classic The Brazilian Revolution, Caio Prado Júnior criticizes the theorists of his
time for developing the basis of thought for agrarian reform in Brazil based on European models.
European agrarian reform based on land ownership comes from the initiative of peasants, individuals
whose social recognition is conditioned by their productive function and their belonging to the
land and to a specific location. Differently, the Brazilian case starts from a slave system, in which
people who exploit the land only sell their labor power. Since the struggle for land ownership would
be linked to the relationship that people establish with this land, in this article, we seek to identify
elements of Caio Prado Júnior's criticism that are associated with the concept of multifunctionality
of agriculture. Bearing in mind that this line of study recognizes roles that go beyond the merely
productive function of agriculture, especially that one related to the permanence of people
in the countryside and the maintenance of the social and cultural relations in the localities.