Consciência crítica e resistência: reflexões Freirianas sobre a formação do movimento agroecológico em Araponga, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Abstract The agroecology movement has become the most relevant resistance to agribusiness in Brazil in recent decades. Grounded on Paulo Freire’s liberating education and critical consciousness theories, we aimed to contribute to Organization Studies (OS) on rural social movements by unveiling the case of the agroecology movement in Araponga, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in its formation phase. We asked: How does the beginning of the trajectory of the agroecology movement in Araponga, Minas Gerais, help us reflect on the construction of the protagonism of the oppressed? Through this case, we highlight that to overcome oppressive relationships, small-scale family farming and peasants/rural workers had to first identify themselves under an oppressive system to which they have been historically submitted. Acknowledging their authenticity and autonomous mechanisms of land access were central to developing new forms of production and redefining their identities. Thus, the second important moment is the pedagogy of women and men in a continuous and permanent process of liberation. Hence, the collective identity and resistance building in the agroecology movement in Araponga arose through farmers and rural workers’ struggle and through their self-recognition as a humanized, critical, free, and autonomous people. This reflects the ‘action-reflection-action’ process of collective and horizontal learning where everyone is both educator and learner simultaneously. From this paper, we encourage more reflections in OS on rural movements through the Freirean approach.