Reforma agrária pra quê? A trajetória da Associação Brasileira de Reforma Agrária em defesa de regular e redistribuir o direito à terra no Brasil / Land reform for what purpose? The trajectory of the Brazilian Association of Land Reform in the expectation of regulating and redistributing land access in Brazil / ¿Para qué reforma agraria? La trayectoria de la Asociación Brasileña de Reforma Agraria con la expectativa de regular y redistribuir el acceso a la tierra en Brasil

Abstract

This article analyzes how a group of people realized, in the mid-1960s, problems related to the way in which Brazilian territory was occupied and how, in a dictatorship, they created the ABRA to propose agrarian reform as a solution. The evidence results from qualitative research that combined literature review with interviews and questionnaires. The analysis shows that for almost fifty years this group tried to take advantage of windows of opportunities to propose legal mechanisms for regulating the right to land property (such as social function or obligation) and land redistribution (such as taxation or expropriation) to include the rural workers in national development. However, the expectations around these mechanisms triggered reactions that reduced the group's relative participation in decision-making. In developmentalism echoes, this analysis raises concerns about who, when and how can speak about the problems and solutions to conflicts over land and territory in the country.