Toward the Worker State, or Working for the State? Reorganization of Political Antagonisms in the Brazilian Amazon

The institutionalization of the Brazilian Workers’ Party has given rise to new tensions among emerging political actors, historic social movement mediator organizations, and the state. An analysis of the differences in strategies and practices between the Movement in Defense of Renascer and the Prai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Latin American perspectives 2016-03, Vol.43 (2), p.22-47
Main Author:	Baletti, Brenda
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Analysis Brazil Discourse analysis Emancipation Labor unions Political aspects Political parties Reorganization Rural areas Social aspects Social movements Studies Tension Unions
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	The institutionalization of the Brazilian Workers’ Party has given rise to new tensions among emerging political actors, historic social movement mediator organizations, and the state. An analysis of the differences in strategies and practices between the Movement in Defense of Renascer and the Prainha Rural Worker’s Movement that emerged during the creation of the Renascer Extractive Reserve in the Lower Amazon highlights the fact that the movement’s emancipatory impulses indicate a break with the politics-as-usual of the union and the Workers’ Party more broadly. An examination of union political discourses and practices that seek to fold these emancipatory impulses back into the dominant logic indicates that the union continues to perform the work of the state—albeit a reconstituted one—both institutionally and effectively. A institucionalização do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) no Brasil tem criado novas tensões entre atores políticos emergentes, organizações mediadoras dos movimentos sociais históricos e o Estado. Uma análise das diferenças entre o Movimento em Defesa do Renascer e o Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais da Prainha, na Baixa Amazônia, enfatiza o fato de que os impulsos emancipatórios do movimento indicam um rompimento com os hábitos políticos de sindicatos e do Partido dos Trabalhadores de um modo geral. Um exame dos discursos políticos sindicais e das práticas que buscam a contenção desses impulsos emancipatórios, e tentam restaurá-los à lógica dominante, indica que o sindicato continua a desempenhar o trabalho do Estado—mesmo que reconstituído—tanto institucionalmente quanto efetivamente.
ISSN:	0094-582X 1552-678X