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Doing it for Themselves: Direct Action Land Reform in the Brazilian Amazon

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  • Simmons, Cynthia
  • Walker, Robert
  • Perz, Stephen
  • Aldrich, Stephen
  • Caldas, Marcellus
  • Pereira, Ritaumaria
  • Leite, Flavia
  • Fernandes, Luiz Claudio
  • Arima, Eugenio

Abstract

Summary The present paper considers a sometimes contentious process of land reform presently occurring in Brazil. This process, referred to in the paper as Direct Action Land Reform (DALR), involves organizations such as the Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or MST) and more spontaneous actions of individuals desiring a piece of land for their own. Results of a survey covering 751 households engaged in such land reform actions in the Brazilian Amazon are presented, in order to describe participants and land reform processes. Evidently, social movement organizations provide for a modest degree of wealth accumulation, a welfare improvement that must be set against potential environmental costs. The paper concludes by calling attention to the challenge DALR may ultimately pose to the Brazilian state.

Suggested Citation

  • Simmons, Cynthia & Walker, Robert & Perz, Stephen & Aldrich, Stephen & Caldas, Marcellus & Pereira, Ritaumaria & Leite, Flavia & Fernandes, Luiz Claudio & Arima, Eugenio, 2010. "Doing it for Themselves: Direct Action Land Reform in the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 429-444, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:3:p:429-444
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Deininger, Klaus & Binswanger, Hans, 1999. "The Evolution of the World Bank's Land Policy: Principles, Experience, and Future Challenges," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 14(2), pages 247-276, August.
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    4. Deininger, Klaus, 1999. "Making negotiated land reform work : initial experience from Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2040, The World Bank.
    5. Menon, Purnima & Ruel, Marie T. & Morris, Saul Sutkover, 2000. "Socio-economic differentials in child stunting are consistently larger in urban than rural areas," FCND briefs 97, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    Cited by:

    1. Carrero, Gabriel Cardoso & Walker, Robert Tovey & Simmons, Cynthia Suzanne & Fearnside, Philip Martin, 2022. "Land grabbing in the Brazilian Amazon: Stealing public land with government approval," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Pokorny, Benno & de Jong, Wil & Godar, Javier & Pacheco, Pablo & Johnson, James, 2013. "From large to small: Reorienting rural development policies in response to climate change, food security and poverty," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 52-59.
    3. Aghane Antunes & Cynthia S. Simmons & Joao Paulo Veiga, 2021. "Non-Timber Forest Products and the Cosmetic Industry: An Econometric Assessment of Contributions to Income in the Brazilian Amazon," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Flávia Leite & Marcellus Caldas & Cynthia Simmons & Stephen Perz & Stephen Aldrich & Robert Walker, 2011. "The social viability and environmental sustainability of direct action land reform settlements in the Amazon," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 773-788, August.
    5. Eugenio Arima & Paulo Barreto & Farzad Taheripour & Angel Aguiar, 2021. "Dynamic Amazonia: The EU–Mercosur Trade Agreement and Deforestation," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Jennifer Alix-Garcia & Tobias Kuemmerl & Volker C. Radeloff, 2012. "Prices, Land Tenure Institutions, and Geography: A Matching Analysis of Farmland Abandonment in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 88(3), pages 425-443.
    7. Ritaumaria Pereira & Cynthia S. Simmons & Robert Walker, 2016. "Smallholders, Agrarian Reform, and Globalization in the Brazilian Amazon: Cattle versus the Environment," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Piva da Silva, Mariana & Fraser, James A. & Parry, Luke, 2022. "From ‘prison’ to ‘paradise’? Seeking freedom at the rainforest frontier through urban–rural migration," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

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