Transforming rights into social practices?: The landless movement and land reform in Brazil

In: IDS bulletin, Volume 36, Issue 1, p. 129-137

Abstract

This article discusses the idea that the transformation of rights as forms of discourse into social practices is a political process more complex than empirical evidence suggests. Based on the case of the Landless Movement in Brazil, the article explores the idea that some apparent forms of rights embedded in conventional demands must be seen under the light of historical contexts and social characteristics of those social actors demanding them. In addition, the very idea of rights is sometimes only the superficial part of a deeper array of tensions and contradictions. (IDS Bull/DÜI)