Thesis-Alexander-Myhre.Pdf (1004.Kb)

A struggle for land Reclaiming or invading land in Mato Grosso do Sul Alexander Myhre Master thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability Centre for Development and Environment UNIVERSITY OF OSLO January, 2018 II © Alexander Myhre 2018 A struggle for land - Reclaiming or invading land in Mato Grosso do Sul http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo III Abstract There is currently a struggle about land between indigenous people and farmers in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The conflict has already caused deaths, and both sides point to the other as the instigator. This thesis attempts to study this conflict both from the point of view of the farmers and the indigenous people utilizing interviews and participant observations. By adopting an analytical framework of moral economy and structural violence I try to gain an understanding of how each side justifies their claim to the land and point to the other as the aggressor. The indigenous see themselves as legitimately reclaiming, retomando, land that is theirs, while the farmers see them as invaders that do not respect legally acquired land. IV V Acknowledgements Then I am done. I have many times during this thesis period thought about how I would go about when writing this acknowledgement chapter, and I have had nearly every idea in the book. What I have struggled the most with however has been how to express my gratitude to those having participated in this thesis: I hope most of you will read it and say “He got it right.” If it did not turn out like you wanted it to be then know that I did my best. At SUM I would like to thank my supervisor Mariel for her informative and challenging feedback, whether it was me or her away doing fieldwork. I would also like to thank Gudrun and especially Anne-Line, with the latter proving to be a vital ally in my own struggle against UDI. Of help outside SUM I would like to say thanks to Nora, Maggi and Dag, for providing me with useful input and other perspectives. To my Brazilian family Ana and Miguel for making me feel just as much at home in Brazil as in Norway: obrigado. And last but not least my favorite Brasileira who has been with me every step of the way, and even became my wife in the process: If the thesis is any good, it is yours as much as mine. VI VII Table of contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Time line of the conflict ..................................................................................... 3 1.2 Guarani Kaiowá .................................................................................................. 3 1.2.1 Claims in the conflict .................................................................................. 4 1.3 Farmers ............................................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Claims in the conflict .................................................................................. 5 1.4 Institutions and the process of demarcating land................................................ 6 1.4.1 Funai ............................................................................................................ 6 1.4.2 The Rural Caucus ........................................................................................ 8 1.5 Research questions ........................................................................................... 10 1.6 Objectives of the study ..................................................................................... 10 1.7 Structure............................................................................................................ 10 2 Background ............................................................................................................. 12 2.1 Brazilian history ............................................................................................... 12 2.2 Mato Grosso (do Sul) and the agribusiness expansion ..................................... 15 2.2.1 Agribusiness .............................................................................................. 16 2.2.2 Family agronomy ...................................................................................... 18 2.3 Poverty and land – the struggle of social movements ...................................... 20 2.4 Indigenous social movements ........................................................................... 21 3 Analytical framework .............................................................................................. 25 3.1 Moral economy ................................................................................................. 25 3.2 Violence and concepts regarding violence ....................................................... 27 3.2.1 Social justice ............................................................................................. 30 4 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Qualitative approach ......................................................................................... 33 4.2 Reliability ......................................................................................................... 34 4.3 Validity ............................................................................................................. 34 4.4 Fieldwork .......................................................................................................... 35 4.5 Snowball sampling ........................................................................................... 37 4.6 Interviews ......................................................................................................... 38 4.7 Participant observation ..................................................................................... 39 VIII 4.8 Role as researcher ............................................................................................ 40 4.9 Limitations ....................................................................................................... 41 4.9.1 Translation ................................................................................................ 42 4.10 Ethical considerations ................................................................................... 44 5 Analysis – Guarani-Kaiowá .................................................................................... 46 5.1 How they are perceived and the racism they experience ................................. 46 5.2 Violence and social exclusion as a consequence of racism ............................. 49 5.2.1 Lack of government presence ................................................................... 53 5.2.2 Brainwashing ............................................................................................ 57 5.2.3 Summary ................................................................................................... 59 5.3 Why do they reclaim and how do they justify the retomada? .......................... 60 5.3.1 Reintegration of ownership or attack ........................................................ 65 5.4 Moral economy of the Guarani-Kaiowá .......................................................... 66 5.4.1 What works in their struggle ..................................................................... 71 5.4.2 Summary ................................................................................................... 72 6 Analysis – Farmers ................................................................................................. 75 6.1 Being portrayed negative ................................................................................. 76 6.1.1 Who feeds Brazil? ..................................................................................... 78 6.1.2 Responsible farmers or polluters .............................................................. 80 6.1.3 Thieves ...................................................................................................... 81 6.1.4 Summary ................................................................................................... 82 6.2 Being invaded - The violence suffered by the farmers ................................... 83 6.2.1 Reintegration of ownership or attack ........................................................ 86 6.2.2 Summary ................................................................................................... 87 6.3 One Brazil or two nations? ............................................................................... 88 6.3.1 Indigenous knowledge as not trustworthy. ............................................... 93 6.3.2 Hypocrites ................................................................................................. 94 6.4 Accept that you are colonized .......................................................................... 96 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 100 References ..................................................................................................................... 106 IX List of figures Figure 1: Map of Brazil ................................................................................................... 12 Figure 2: Map of Mato Grosso do Sul............................................................................. 15

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