On the cutting edge of the Brazilian frontier: New (and Old) Agrarian questions in the south central Amazon

• Published in: The Journal of peasant studies Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 1 - 38
• Main Authors: de Souza Mello Bicalho, Ana Maria, Hoefle, Scott William
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis 01-01-2008; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Agrarian Structures; Agribusiness; Agricultural policy; Agricultural structure; Agriculture; Amazon; Brazil; Environmental Policy; Farms; Land; Land economics; Land reform; Land use; Marxism-Leninism; Peasants; Trends; Mato Grosso Brazil; Rondonia Brazil
• ISSN: 0306-6150; 1743-9361
• DOI: 10.1080/03066150801983436

The focus of this analysis is the zone of the Brazilian Amazon where the greater frontier has arrived from Rondônia and Mato Grosso states, where new productive systems and environmental and land colonisation policies have resulted in a complex agrarian structure. This ranges from traditional riverine peasant farms to agribusiness enterprises, which co-exist or interact economically, but as yet have not become embroiled in conflict. A Leninist model of agrarian transformation prevails in rice-soybeans-beef production in savannah areas, and a Kautskian model in the livestock ranching of the forested areas. The latter trend may develop into a Leninist pattern in the future, due to environmental policy and limits to land concession which generate land ownership concentration, thereby frustrating land reform policy.