Struggle trajectories: history, bureaucracy, and land conquest in rural settlements in Campo Maior, Piauí, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is a country with enormous land concentration, despite the agrarian reform model adopted by the government in recent decades, based on the creation of rural settlements. Many of these settlements come from the struggles of squatters, supported by the social function of rural property after the 1988 Federal Constitution. In this context, the objective was to analyze the trajectories of struggles in the creation of the rural settlements Fazenda Boa Vista and Brejinho, located in Campo Maior, Piauí, Brazil, reporting and discussing conflicts with landowners, bureaucratic issues, land conquest, and regionalization of occupied space. An interpretative approach was used through documentary analysis, oral history, thematic interviews, and the application of semi-structured forms in settlements remaining from these struggles. The two expropriations occurred due to the collective resistance and persistence of the squatters, with significant disagreements with the landowners and immense state bureaucracy. In the acquired area, there is a new regionalization, emerging as a symbol of the identity dimension and new production dynamics for family farming. We also see a group feeling of achievement and pride among those settled in a democratically occupied space.