Participation and Land Reform in Brazil: tracing connections between bureaucrats and social movements

• Authors: Camila Penna

Title variants

PL

Partycypacja i reforma rolna w Brazylii: śledząc powiazania między biurokratami a ruchami społecznymi

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

There are different forms by which the state bureaucracy relates to social movements in the realm of agrarian reform policies in Brazil. A number of possible connections and very complex relations have been taking shape over the last 30 years. Possible connections include institutional spaces for discussion, but also a number of informal relations between bureaucrats and social movement mediators. I would argue that the literature on participatory democracy is not the best approach to analyze this wide-ranging scope of connections, inasmuch as it assumes the existence of two different and separate actors - the state and the civil society – and usually considers the state as a monolithic actor while focusing on civil society. In fact, the diversity of formats by which social movements relate to state bureaucracy can be apprehended more fully by the actor-network approach, as this gives the researcher tools to account for connections taking place in different sites and in a multiplicity of formats, as well as to analyze their effects on actors’ agency during the political process. Data that supports this argument is drawn from ethnographical research within the Brazilian state institution in charge of implementing agrarian reform policies, INCRA (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform). By focusing on how the bureaucracy understands and reacts to one of the most organized and mobilized beneficiary publics in the Brazilian political arena, this investigation presents some interesting findings regarding the complexity of networks in which bureaucrats are entangled and their effects on the negotiation and implementati of policies claimed by rural social movements. In what follows I discuss some of these findings in light of participatory democracy and theoretical actor-network contributions

PL

i ruchów społecznych. Wiele możliwych i złożonych powiązań dało się zauważyć w ciągu ostatnich 30 lat. Możliwe powiązania wskazują na przestrzeń instytucjonalną dla dyskusji, ale także na wiele relacji nieformalnych miedzy biurokratami i mediatorami ze strony ruchów społecznych. Literatura nt. demokracji uczestniczącej (partycypacyjnej) nie jest najlepszym środkiem do analizy tego wielkiego obszaru powiązań, ponieważ stwierdza się w niej, że mamy dwóch oddzielnych aktorów: państwo i społeczeństwo obywatelskie i że państwo jest aktorem monolitycznym. Zróżnicowanie możliwych form relacji ruchów społecznych i biurokracji może być lepiej badane przy zastosowaniu podejścia „actor-network” (aktor w sieci), ponieważ podejście to daje badaczowi narzędzie obserwacji powiązań w różnych miejscach i formach, jak również narzędzie do analizy ich wpływu na działania aktorów w procesie politycznym. Dane potwierdzające ten argument pochodzą z etnograficznych badań w Brazylijskich instytucjach państwowych, które wprowadzają reformę rolną, INCRA (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform). Badanie skoncentrowano na tym, jak biurokracja rozumie i reaguje na jedną z najlepiej zorganizowanych i zmobilizowanych publicznych akcji na brazylijskiej arenie politycznej. Przedstawia ono interesujące wyniki dotyczące złożoności sieci, w których są uwikłani biurokraci oraz skutki dla negocjacji i implementacji polityki rewindykowanej przez wiejskie ruchy społeczne. W artykule omawia się niektóre wyniki badania w świetle teorii demokracji partycypacyjnej i teorii „aktor w sieci”.

Keywords

EN

INCRA; Bureaucracy; Actor-network theory; Participatory democracy; Brazil

PL

INCRA; Biurokracja; teoria „aktor w sieci”; demokracja partycypacyjna; Brazylia; proceduralizacja partycypacj

• Publisher: Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Stowarzyszenie
• Journal: Przegląd Socjologiczny
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 123-142

Dates

published

2012

Contributors

author

Camila Penna

• Universidade de Brasilia

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Identifiers

ISSN

0033-2356