FROM SUBSISTENCE TO FINANCIAL ASSET: THE APPROPRIATION OF THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO LANDS AS A RESOURCE/ De subsistência à ativo financeiro: a apropriação como recurso das terras do Cerrado brasileiro/ la subsistencia a los activos financieros: apropiación como recurso de tierras del Cerrado brasileño

Authors

  • Samuel Frederico Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Rio Claro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47946/rnera.v0i50.6580

Keywords:

Modern agricultural frontier, finance capital, resource, land

Abstract

This article proposes a typology of the appropriation of Brazilian Cerrado lands as a resource—ranging from subsistence for local peoples, to the current attempt by institutional investors to transform the land into a financial asset—without disregarding its use as a source of power and accumulation by large capitalist farmers. A resource is considered as any product of a relationship mediated by appropriation of a specific natural material by a particular agent. Until 1970s, Cerrado lands were used almost exclusively as a means of subsistence by peasants and indigenous populations. Since then, under a violent expropriation process, land has become a resource for capitalist accumulation and patrimonialist power for large-scale immigrant farmers, with the expansion of the agricultural frontier. Within the context of land grabbing in the 21st century, the arrival of representatives of international financial capital has added to the complexity of the appropriation strategies in which Cerrado lands are considered financial assets. These different perspectives of using land as a resource has increased the number of conflicts and contradictions, with profound negative effects on peasant communities in agricultural frontier areas.

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Author Biography

Samuel Frederico, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Rio Claro

Graduado (2002) e mestre (2004) em Geografia pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas, doutor em Geografia Humana pela Universidade de São Paulo (2009), com pós-doutoramento na Universidade de Paris VIII (2016). Atualmente é Professor Assistente Doutor da Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (Unesp - Rio Claro). Tem experiência na área de Geografia, com ênfase em Geografia Econômica, Regional e Agrária, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: land grabbing; modernização e expansão da fronteira agrícola; região competitiva; circuito espacial produtivo; capital financeiro e agronegócio.

Published

2019-08-31

How to Cite

Frederico, S. (2019). FROM SUBSISTENCE TO FINANCIAL ASSET: THE APPROPRIATION OF THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO LANDS AS A RESOURCE/ De subsistência à ativo financeiro: a apropriação como recurso das terras do Cerrado brasileiro/ la subsistencia a los activos financieros: apropiación como recurso de tierras del Cerrado brasileño. REVISTA NERA, (50), 239–260. https://doi.org/10.47946/rnera.v0i50.6580

Issue

Section

ARTICLES