Papers - Conference 2009 - Institute of Latin American Studies

Hence, the neo-liberal free trade approach has become a dominant discursive practice for howto achieve global economic progress in the world (see Bourdieu 1998 & 2002). Trade, then,“[…] not only shapes our economy but also determines the kind of world in which we live”(Moon 2008: 95). Due to the success of neo-liberalism in presenting itself as self-evident,there seems to be few – if any – alternatives to this consumption-driven world (Bourdieu1998: 29; Moon 2008: 111).MST and the age of Neo-liberalismEven though one may speak of today‟s world as a global consumption society, one should notforget that there is a large part of the world‟s population excluded from this society, trying toget by on only a few dollars a day (Moon 2008: 96). 6 Figures also show that inequalitieswithin and between societies have grown during the last 20-25 years (see Moon 2008: 96 andReeves & D‟Costa 2008: 141f). As demonstrated earlier, this trend can also be seen withinBrazil (see page 2, this paper). An increased concentration of landownership andimplementation of neoliberal policies has played an important and contributing part in this“development” (see Meszaros 2000: 3 and Karriem 2008: 6). 7The main objective of MST has since its early years been to obtain land for the landlesspeople, and the key actor necessary for this to be realized has been the Brazilian government.Yet, the state alone is not the only target for MST. The so called “supra-national institutions”,such as the IMF, WTO and World Bank, have also become major targets (Edelman 2005:337). João Pedro Stedile, economist and front figure of MST, argues that as long as the IMFcan continue to impose rules upon Brazil of how to spend its budget, not even Jesus Christhimself could change the situation of Brazil (Stedile 2004: 6f). Stedile argues that to get out ofpoverty – and thus, become empowered – it is not enough just to get a piece of land. Thefences that keep people off the land are only one obstacle. Other disempowering fences are,according to Stedile, international capitalism and multinational corporations as well as lack ofcapital and knowledge (Stedile 2004: 15, 23 see also World Bank 2002). Hence, MST‟sstruggle for land reform is not only about land distribution, but rather a struggle for anextensive social change in which the access to land is but one important part. For suchstruggle to be successful “[…] political and structural barriers to change must be struck6 2,735 million people have together about 1.2 percent of the total global income, while 955 million people of the“high income countries” have 81 percent” (Pogge 2007: 207).7 For relevant figures, see Stedile 2004: 12.4