The “sem terra” (“without land”) identity and the rural education in the antonio companheiro tavares settlement

Abstract

Based on researches made on the Antonio Companheiro Tavares settlement and given interviews, the objective of this article is to analyse the process of identity construction and consolidation of the “Sem terra”. In this way, it seeks to understand the way education is given (formal and informal) both in young people and adults. The theoretic tools used are the concepts of symbolic capital of Pierre Bourdieu, the analysis of Salete Caldart of the education in the MST and the concept of “mundo da vida” (“world of life”) of the fenomenology of Aldred Schutz. The struggles of the movement can’t be reduced to their slogan “ocupar e resistir” (“to occupy and resist”), there are internals issues that also have their relevance, after all we are talking of a movement built in conflictive scenarios, in a bet of an organization from bottom to top. The education of their younglings and the formation of the “Sem Terra” identity are some examples of internals problematics. Nevertheless, the issues that the settlement go through are not the same as the movement, as there are still many things that need to be structured in the first one. There are particular problems of the settlement that differ, and a lot, from the MST guidelines. To approach them makes part of the understanding the identity construction as complex process.