Repression, Opportunity, and Protest: Explaining the Takeoff of Brazil's Landless Movement

Ondetti, Gabriel

doi:10.1353/lap.2006.0023

Cited by 28 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While repression can deter mobilization (Jeffries, ;), it can also backfire by triggering the radicalization of resistance (Almeida, , pp. 353–354; Goldstone & Tilly, ; Ondetti, , p. 62).…”

Section: The Repression‐mobilization Nexus In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragmented control: Governing contentious labor organizations in China

2016

Governance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How does an authoritarian state govern contentious civil society and what are the effects on grassroots mobilization? This article theorizes the relationship between repression and mobilization by examining the case of informal labor organizations in South China that threaten social stability. Findings based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork inside these organizations suggest that the central state's mandate to maintain social stability is refracted through the interests and capabilities of local agencies. This results in “fragmented control”: divergent, even conflicting, forms of state governance over civil society. Local authorities work at cross‐purposes by simultaneously repressing, co‐opting, and neglecting underground organizing. Fragmented control generates political uncertainty on the part of activists and induces them to engage in “censored entrepreneurialism”—a set of tactical adaptations characterized by a mixture of self‐censorship and entrepreneurial experimentation.

show abstract

Section: The Repression‐mobilization Nexus In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragmented control: Governing contentious labor organizations in China

2016

Governance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although there are studies of the landless movements in English, none has used the PNERA dataset. Most studies have focused on the impact of external forces on the movements, concluding that media, protests, repression, and public opinion are important factors contributing to their growth (Gohn ; Hammond ; Ondetti ). Relatively unstudied are internal mechanisms, such as the nature of the educational process, which have contributed to increased militancy and movement growth by producing effective leaders who are committed to continuance of the cause and accomplishment of movement goals.…”

Section: The Movimento Dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem‐terramentioning

confidence: 99%

Countering Inequality: Brazil's Movimento Sem‐Terra

Valente

Berry

2015

Geographical Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Data from a national survey of formerly landless peasants residing in federal land-reform settlements in Brazil (Pesquisa Nacional de Educac ßão na Reforma Agr aria -PNERA) confirm that the Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra-MST) has been far more successful than other settlement movements in assuring a better quality of life for its members. This superior performance is attributed to an organizational structure that demands and assures membership involvement, and a commitment to participatory education in an environment that fosters and supports MST's goals and objectives. MST's members have higher self-perceived social status than members of non-MST movements, have better residential environments and more material possessions, and experience an education that emphasizes the movement's principles of social justice, radical democracy, and humanist and socialist values. Keywords: Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST), rural education, Brazil, Pesquisa Nacional de Educac ßão na Reforma Agr aria (PNERA), agrarian reform.As Brazil entered the final quarter of the twentieth century, a massive landless rural population, poor and uneducated, confronted it. To be sure, urbanward migration was running apace as the most enterprising headed to the cities, increasing the number and size of urban squatter settlements (favelas), but much of the peasantry remained locked to a countryside where half of the usable land was in the hands of less than 1 percent of the population. However, building on the successes of those establishing favelas in the cities, and amidst rising social consciousness stimulated by aggressive community organization, a number of settlement movements emerged that were committed to securing land for the peasantry, improving living conditions and housing, and ensuring at least a basic education for all. By late 2004, the National Research on Education in Agrarian Reform (Pesquisa Nacional de Educac ßão na Reforma Agr aria-PNERA), which was conducted by the Ministry of Education in a joint effort with the Ministry of Agrarian Development through the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Instituto Nacional de Colonizac ßão e Reforma Agr aria-INCRA) and the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais-INEP), identified 5,595 rural settlements planted by these movements and legalized since 1985, with over 2.5 million residents-close to 525,000

show abstract

“…The hostile response against the government by the citizens of Brazil forced them to change their strategy of containment with the MST and inspired international support (de Almeida et al. 2000; Ondetti 2006; Wolford 2007).…”

Section: Latin American Social Movements and Political Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nations in Central and South America experimenting with neoliberal projects and allowing social benefits to erode offer negative inducements to mobilize (Almeida 2003(Almeida , 2007Babb 2005;Hippler 1995;Timberlake and Williams 1984). They sometimes respond to popular backlash against unpopular programs with military and police repression (Almeida 2007;Inclán 2008Inclán , 2009Muñoz 2008;Ondetti 2006). These forces prompt activists to mobilize, protest, and attempt to alter the outcomes of public policy and resist the neoliberal impulses of their national governments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of Latin American Activism: Domestic and Transnational Political Opportunities and Threats

Shekha¹

2011

Sociology Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For decades Latin America has been and continues to be a vibrant source of activism as democracies emerge, civil societies strengthen, and movements turn an outward eye towards international forces. Social movements, organizations, and activists in Latin America mobilize around a diverse set of issues from neoliberalism to women’s rights and more. Yet, all groups must successfully navigate ever‐shifting domestic and transnational political opportunities and threats. This review first defines the political opportunity approach and discusses debates surrounding its utility and applicability at different phases of social movement activity, as well as growing debates about the importance of domestic versus transnational opportunities and threats for predicting movement mobilization, protests, and outcomes. Next the article discusses changing domestic and transnational political opportunities and threats throughout Latin America. It then turns to empirical application of the political opportunity model to various social movements, organizations, and activist groups working in Central and South America. This paper concludes with a brief revisit of the debate and points to future lines of inquiry. Additionally, it provides an interactive Google Map, which locates the prominent actors involved in Latin American activism, the international institutions that influence them, and Internet links for more information.

show abstract

Repression, Opportunity, and Protest: Explaining the Takeoff of Brazil's Landless Movement

Cited by 28 publications

References 37 publications

Fragmented control: Governing contentious labor organizations in China

Fragmented control: Governing contentious labor organizations in China

Countering Inequality: Brazil's Movimento Sem‐Terra

Determinants of Latin American Activism: Domestic and Transnational Political Opportunities and Threats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About