Unpacking the finance-farmland nexus: circles of cooperation and intermediaries in Brazil

Author(s)

Spadotto, Bruno Rezende ; Martenauer Saweljew, Yuri ; Frederico, Samuel ; Teixeira Pitta, Fabio

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: GLOBALIZATIONS; v. 18, n. 3, p. 21-pg., 2020-06-04.

Abstract

In this article, we analyse strategies of accumulation of agribusiness corporations specializing in the land market. More specifically, we examine the processes and actors involved and the connections that global financial capital makes in order to access the land market and agricultural production in theCerradobiome in central-northern Brazil (Matopiba region), which we refer to as 'circles of cooperation'. We present case studies on two financialized corporations engaged in real estate farmland speculation, Radar and SLC LandCo, to illustrate the technical and political dimensions of 'operations of capital' and thegrilagem(falsification of land titles) scheme used in the Matopiba region. Our focus is on the role of the intermediaries, namelycolonelsandgrileiros, and the legalization of land grabbing by corporate investors. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/08587-9 - Sugarcane agroindustry fictitious reproduction in São Paulo, in the XXIst century, and Marxist theories on the immanent and recent capital crisis: an essay on concrete totality critique
• Grantee: Fábio Teixeira Pitta
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 17/00346-5 - Financial capital and land grabbing: the use of information techniques by SLC Agrícola for the capture of land income
• Grantee: Yuri Martenauer Saweljew
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 16/24186-4 - Land grabbing and territory usage: financial capital and land appropriation in south of Maranhão and Piauí (MATOPIBA), north center of Brazil
• Grantee: Bruno Rezende Spadotto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 17/12100-0 - Territory, financial capital and agriculture: land control by financial capital in Matopiba region
• Grantee: Samuel Frederico
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants