Legitimate forms of agriculture in western conservationist discourse: circulation of ideas between France and Brazil from a Sociohistorical Perspective

• Grant number: 25/05566-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: January 05, 2026
• End date: July 04, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo Moruzzi Marques
• Grantee: José Caio Quadrado Alves
• Supervisor: Julien Blanc
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/08320-6 - NEW AGRICULTURES FOR A NEW REALITY: the metamorphosis social conflicts in the countryside of São Paulo in response to the global climate emergency., BP.DR

Abstract

The research period in France will enable direct engagement with current debates on the persuasive strategies employed by social movements in constructing ecological discourses that grant legitimacy to new agricultural paradigms. This experience will provide significant contributions to the doctoral thesis, which examines the driving forces behind land-rights movements in Brazil within the context of an emerging "ecological just world" perspective. The study focuses on analyzing the mobilization of agroecological discourse in conflict scenarios. The thesis is grounded in pragmatic sociology of critique, an approach developed by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot. This theoretical framework posits that orders of worth (universal principles of worth), which legitimize agreements and govern modern social life, are relative (their influence varies according to specific historical circumstances). Furthermore, they represent a limited plurality (where multiple moral orders coexist) and remain in constant competition within justification-demanding situations. Concurrently, the thesis incorporates Ulrich Beck's concept of emancipatory catastrophism, which argues that reflexive awareness of global catastrophe risks can catalyze critique, generating an anthropological shock. Through civil society's political and cultural initiatives, this process may establish new normative horizons. Research at the Museum of Mankind (Musée de l'Homme, Paris) aims to consolidate this developing theoretical framework and advance analysis of social movement strategies in response to global transformations.