A New Model Society: The Brazilian Landless Movement

Globalised neoliberal capitalism continues to entrench inequality, environmental degradation, and social division. The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), or Brazilian Landless Rural Workers Movement, offer us a route beyond any theoretical impasse or reluctant acquiescence to the enduring social and economic status quo. Through time spent working and being among the MST many of their defining features and practices are mapped. These include land occupations; the organisation of work co-operatively; the practising of agro-ecology; participatory democracy; implementation of gender quotas for community leadership positions; and the application of principles based upon the 'common good'. From these experiences, challenges, and successes there is a great deal that we as a global community can learn from MST communities as we think about alternative, just futures.