The misunderstandings between the government, on one side, and the MST, the Church and the opposition parties on the other side, when the topic is the agrarian reform, can only be understood if we keep in mind what this agrarian matter is in Brazil. In a country which the big capital turned to be the owner of the lands, the classical conception of the agrarian matter, and of the reforms required by it, is substantially altered. These reforms are what really propose the new conditions and limits to the reform in the country. Moreover, they also point to a possible development of the History of Brazil based in this structural reference. The agrarian reform turned to be a cyclical reform due to the continuous entry and reentry of potential clients in this scene. The fact that the MST and the landless have assumed the initiative of the occupations, being the government only a proxy for the reform, does not indicate the debility of the democratic State in doing the reform. It only indicates that the civil society, through some organization and popular movement, started to have a new role in the structure of the Brazilian State.
agrarian reform; agrarian matter; social movements; governability; Fernando Henrique Cardoso