Resistance strategies and diversification of rural livelihoods: the construction of autonomy among Brazilian family farmers

Abstract

Recent research on forms of integration and interaction of peasants and family farmers in dominant economic systems in developed as well as in developing countries has revealed that such forms generate both productive differentiation and social heterogeneity in rural spaces. Therefore, by understanding the local and regional dynamics of the integration of family farming in economic processes, it is possible to broadly comprehend changes and development in the rural world. An actor-oriented theoretical perspective maintains that the agency of social actors explains not only their capacity to resist but also their capacity to suggest, act, and build alternative rural development projects. Adopting an actor-oriented approach combined with a livelihoods perspective, this paper discusses the emergence of a new set of strategies among small-scale family farmers in southern Brazil. This region is one of the rural areas of Brazil most affected by the changes in the technological basis of production that have occurred since the 1970s. Such strategies involve innovations in the labour and production processes, and a common denominator among such strategies is the search for ‘autonomy’ in a context of increasing social vulnerability. In this context, farmers have built livelihood diversification strategies (internalisation of resources, pluriactivity, de-commodification, alternative markets), which indicate the emergence of new forms of resistance based on a wide and heterogeneous set of farming practices.