Agrarian Reform as an Environmental Protection Policy: a study on the emergence of socio-environmental land conflicts in the territory of São Paulo ‒ the case of Ribeirão Preto-SP

Abstract

In recent decades, the greater global recognition of the risks associated with climate change, as well as the new possibilities for linking social and ecological agendas, has favored the emergence of new perspectives on socio-environmental justice in rural areas. Alongside food security and fair land distribution, environmental protection is being mobilized by agrarian reform social movements as a strong justification for land expropriation and the promotion of family farming. This work investigates the case of the Mário Lago settlement in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, whose political legitimacy is primarily based on moral perspectives of an ecological nature. In conclusion, the construction of a political agenda aimed at the conservation of natural resources has enabled the MST to link ecological values to its proposal for land use and occupation, politically facilitating the establishment of a Sustainable Development Project (PDS) settlement. As a result, the MST's popular agrarian reform goes beyond production and income issues and is now presented as an important socio-environmental policy.