A miséria do campo: violência e capitalismo dependente no campo em Goiás em tempos de redemocratização

Abstract

The central theme of this work revolves around the issue of rural violence in the state of Goiás, moving from the state's microcosm to the structural and systemic issues involving the Brazilian State during the redemocratization period—specifically the first four years of the Sarney government, up to the Constituent Assembly—and Brazil's position then and now as a peripheral, dependent capitalist economy. To analyse this violence, various sources were used, including data on rural violence from the Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), as well as newspapers and magazines. Data from two newspapers have been catalogued, processed, and analysed: one left-wing (Jornal dos Trabalhadores sem Terra) and one right-wing (Diário da Manhã), in addition to the magazine of the Brazilian Association for Agrarian Reform, a progressive centre-left publication. The dissertation aims to demonstrate, from a historical-dialectical materialist perspective, how—despite presenting itself as a democratic state under the rule of law—the democracy of Brazil's New Republic maintained characteristics of authoritarianism and violence towards subaltern populations.