The agroecological transition as an alternative to agribusiness: analysis and contributions to the case of the Dom Tomás Balduíno Comuna da Terra Settlement

• Grant number: 21/07257-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Larissa Mies Bombardi
• Grantee: Marina Cristina Campos Peralta
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Agroecology presents alternatives to the conventional model of agriculture currently prevailing in Brazil, with perspectives that, on the other hand, prioritize the autonomy of farmers and the resilience of agroecosystems, which are complex in their multiple characteristics - physical, social, economical, territorial, etc. -, and suggest studies and practices that must be adopted coherently according to the context of the place that they will take place. Thus, this research project initially proposes to bring new insights about the historical socio-spatial and socio-territorial process of formation of the current Brazilian agrarian model - agribusiness -, making arguments in order to highlight the need for changes and presenting alternatives based on the principles of agroecology and the complex process of agroecological transition, in order to justify a study case that has as its central concern, the analysis of the potentialities and limitations of the agroecological transition process in the Dom Tomás Balduíno Comuna Land Settlement. The research will be developed within the principles of participatory research, understanding the importance of considering the perceptions and knowledge of peasants in agroecological studies and of thinking critically about the position of those who perform the research before those who are being researched. The relationships and practices carried out by male and female settlers are interpreted as a resistance to the hegemonic power, exerted by the Brazilian peasantry, which is understood as a social class that is created and recreated internally within the capitalist system of production. (AU)