To Inherit the Earth

by Wright, Angus Lindsay

• ISBN13: 9780935028904
• ISBN10: 0935028900
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: Food First Books

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Publisher's Note/About the Authors	xi
Map of Brazil	xii
Introduction: To inherit the Earth	xiii
The Frustrating Trap of Inequality	xv
A Way Out of the Trap?	xx
History's Geography: The Organization of This Book	xxii
Chronology: Some important Dates in Brazilian and MST History	xxvii
Glossary: Acronyms and Portuguese Terms	xxx
CHAPTER ONE Fulfilling a Promise: The Beginnings of the Landless Movement in Rio Grande Do Sul	1	(100)
Decades of Dictatorship: Repression, Religion and Resistance	4	(10)
The Beginnings of Agrarian Reform in Rio Grande do Sul	14	(33)
Life in the Camp: Hardship and Community	47	(8)
New Thought, New Speech, New Action: The Grass Roots of Political Change	55	(15)
The Church Brokers a Respite	70	(2)
Victory for the Settlers and the Formation of the MST	72	(5)
Sarandi: The Challenges of Settlement	77	(24)
CHAPTER TWO "The Land is Only the First Step": Pernambuco and Northeastern Brazil	101	(80)
Agrarian Reform and the New Democracy	102	(4)
The Northeast of Brazil: Legacies of Poverty and Impunity	106	(18)
A History of Resistance: Quilombos, Canudos and the Peasant Leagues	124	(6)
The MST and the Struggle for Land in Pernambuco	130	(22)
"The Land Is Only the Beginning": Facing the Hurdles of Sustainable Reform	152	(12)
Small-Scale Farmers in a Large-Scale Landscape: The Challenges of Catalunha and Ouro Verde	164	(12)
Agrarian Reform in the Northeast: A Balance Sheet	176	(5)
CHAPTER THREE Beyond the Lure of the Amazon	181	(82)
The Amazon: What's at Stake? Who Decides	183	(6)
The Transformation of the Amazon	189	(17)
Visiting MST Settlements and the Carajás Mine	206	(29)
Where the MST Stands in the Amazon, and Who Stands with It	235	(9)
Making a Life on Palmares II	244	(14)
The Dialectic of Amazonian Development	258	(5)
CHAPTER FOUR Assessing the MST	263	(77)
Is Life Better on the Settlements?	264	(10)
"Agrarian Reform Light": Assessing the Government's Approach	274	(5)
Land Reform Around the World: The Legacies of US Policy and Influence	279	(8)
Avoiding the Dependency Trap	287	(3)
Agrarian Reform, Legal Impunity and the Future of Land and Forests	290	(17)
The MST and Revolution	307	(8)
The Creation of Citizenship and the Fight Against "Politics as Usual"	315	(10)
The MST and Civil Society in Brazil	325	(5)
The MST in the International Context	330	(3)
Children of the MST and the Future	333	(2)
Postscript: The Lula Government	335	(5)
Notes	340	(15)
Further Reading	355	(3)
Index	358