Cutting the Wire

by Branford, Sue; Rocha, Jan

• ISBN13: 9781899365517
• ISBN10: 1899365516
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Latin Amer Bureau

Summary

Access to land is one of the key issues for developing countries - and Brazil has one of the most inequitable land distributions in the world, with vast tracts of land held by often absentee landowners. Meanwhile thousands of peasants live in marginal lands in cities and rural areas.
The Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST) has proved a huge success with the disenfrachised rural and urban poor in Brazil - becoming one of the largest social movements in the world. Cutting the Wire is the first account in English of the origins, history and current challenges faced by Brazil's poor majority. The authors have travelled the vast expanse of the country to record the words and actions of hundreds of activists who have taken their lives into their own hands.

Table of Contents

List of Testimonies
List of Illustrations and Tables
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Founding of the MST	p. 3
The Consolidation of the MST	p. 26
The MST Moves Northwards	p. 41
The Occupation	p. 65
The Settlements	p. 89
Education in the MST	p. 109
Massacre in the Amazon	p. 129
Repression in Parana	p. 148
The Globalisation of Brazilian Agriculture	p. 171
Agrarian Reform Through the Market	p. 185
The Government's Counter-Offensive	p. 195
The Green Option	p. 211
From a 'Culture of Resistance' to a 'Culture of Liberation'	p. 240
The MST in Historical Perspective	p. 264
Conclusion	p. 285
Notes	p. 288
Index	p. 298
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.