Civil Society and Governance

Civil Society and Governance

CASE STUDY - “Relations MST – State: Education, training and literacy programs, for children and adults in the state of Paraná”

Researcher: Dr. Maria Antônia de Souza

Research Assistants: Luciene Kian

Kelly Lissandra Bruch

Collaboration: Márcia Vaz

SUMMARY

Introduction

Introduction

This text is the result of a case study “Relations MST-State: the programs for education, training and literacy of children and adults in the state of Paraná”, that was developed as part of the research about “Civil Society and Governance”, financed by the Ford Foundation.

The central goals of the case study were: to characterize and analyze the activities undertaken by the Rural Landless Workers Movement (MST) in programs connected with the education of children and adults in areas of rural settlements; to analyze the activities developed by State and MST during the development of literacy programs; to highlight the relations established among MST, the State and the other institutions involved in the literacy process and to characterize the practical results achieved from this relation between the MST and State.

We try to answer the questions present in the project “Civil Society and Governance”, among them: did the encounter between government and Civil society result in greater or lesser cohesion within Civil society from the expansion and/or mobilization of their members? Did the organizations acquire new forms, capacity and organizational strategies as a result of this encounter? Did the encounter produce changes in ideas, beliefs and actions within Civil Society and the government? Did it make governmental agencies regard Civil Society as more legitimate and vice-versa? Did it result in changes in the government? Did the government become more effective, responsible, transparent and democratic? And, finally, which actors contributed to the realization of this encounter between government and Civil society?

The state of Paraná was chosen for the development of the case study in function of the projects that were already organized and those in progress in regard to the literacy of children and adults of the rural settlement areas. The literacy programs for children and adults in question are located in rural settlements organized by the MST. The case study, that treats the relations MST - State, was limited to education in that, especially, during the 90’s, has come to be one of the battle cries for this Social Movement.

Other reasons for the choice of the state of Paraná as one of the case studies is the conflictive situation existing between government and the MST, in the past 3 years. These conflicts are related to the occupation of land and police repression. During 1998, the state of Paraná was among the first in Brazil to have conflict and violence in the rural areas. According to the data from INCRA[1], there are 196 rural settlements in the state of Paraná, and most areas were occupied during the 90’s when the MST intensified land occupations.

We interviewed participants of the literacy programs for children and adults of the existing rural settlements in the state of Paraná. The population interviewed was composed of state representatives of the MST; of regional and local representatives of the MST (monitors[2] and coordinators[3]); of the State Education Secretary; the national coordination of PRONERA[4], university professors; academic trainees and representatives of INCRA.

We use the documents produced by the MST with the objective of placing them in a historical context and to characterize the process of developments in the educational area within the movement. We closely accompanied the monitors and literacy groups while they were in training for teaching[5].

This article will present the results obtained during this research concerning the relation between the MST and State. It is important to highlight that the research refers to the literacy programs that have been developed in the rural settlement in the state of Paraná, through the interaction the MST – State.

When we speak of literacy programs, it is necessary to highlight the fact that there are two, one of them state and the other federal. The first refers to an agreement between the State Secretary of Education and the MST and the other refers to PRONERA, a program organized from agreements established among the federal government, the universities and social movements.

The text is structured in the following manner:

1 – The type of organization of Civil Society: MST. Within this topic, we will discuss the origins of the MST and its development during the decades of the 80’s and 90’s; we are concerned as well in emphasizing the Education Sector built by the representatives of the MST;

2 – The nature of the relation between Civil Society and the government. We try to highlight the relation established between the government and the MST, which has demonstrated a dimension of partnership made concrete by the agreements established between both parts.

3 – The origin of Literacy programs for children and adults in the rural settlements organized by the MST. We highlight the actions undertaken by the MST and the State that contributed to the formation of agreements in the area of education.

4 – The running of programs of trading, schooling and literacy. We highlight here the vision of the monitors, coordinators, university professors and literacy teachers about these programs;

5 – The government’s vision of the Civil society in question; keeping in mind that Civil society, in Brazil, has been composed of various social movements (the fight for homes, health, education, the women’s movement, the ecology movement, the fight for land, etc.); collective manifestations; non-governmental organizations (NGO's) among others; we focus on the government’s vision about one of the actors of Civil society, the MST;

6 – The results achieved with the programs. We will present a discussion about the results achieved during this relationship of the MST and the State and the questions related to the area of education.

7- Other actors involved in the relation between MST and the State; we will relate the actors who have contributed to the relation between the MST and the State, keeping in mind that the MST receives the support of various entities. but possesses an autonomous political and theoretical ideology.

8 – The challenges that permeate the relation between Civil Society and the government. We will discuss some of the challenges that permeate the relations between the MST and the State in a democratic society from a formal point of vision, but highly unequal in terms of social and political rights.

1 – The type of organization of Civil Society: The Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST)

The MST arose from the land occupations of 1978, principally in the southern part of the country. One of the central points in the genesis of the MST is, according to Fernandes (1996:75), the conflict of the rural workers in the municipalities of Ronda Alta and Sarandi in Rio Grande do Sul. The families that occupied an area of the Kaigang Indian Reserve had to leave the area at the demand of the Indians. Part of these families camped in the region of Ronda Alts. These workers initiated a process of discussion about the situation, mediated by representative of the Catholic Church, principally the Pastoral Commission on Land.

The long process of the formation of the MST can be understood from an analysis of the concrete situation of the rural workers in each region of the country and the action of the mediators (principally the members of the Catholic Church/Liberation Theology) that contributed to the formation of the social movement, characterized as a mass movement of a unionist, popular and political character[6].

The factors that contributed to the organization of the MST, according to Stédile and Goergen (19993), were: political “opening” (liberalization); the economic question connected to the modernization of agriculture and the social question, with the expulsion and expropriation of rural farm workers.

The first occupations of the Landless were mediated by people involved with Liberation Theology, developing participatory processes among the workers[7]. The mediation was founded on the work of “bases”, that, in the majority of cases, were characterized by the formation of communities, groups of Landless families, who together developed the discussion process about each family’s situation. The discussions were conducted in the light of reading and interpretation of biblical texts, in a way that they could perceive themselves as socially excluded and, at the same time, identify with colleagues, building, then, ties that led to the formation of groups whose objective was the conquest of land. The mediation is seen, therefore, as the work of people, generally connected with the Church, who identified with the fight and gave it impulse.

At the beginning of the social movement, the groups were formed by a small number of families; this way there was more time in the preparation of the process of occupation – as one worker related. Currently, the occupations are massive, from the point of view of the number of families present in the camp, which make collective organization and preparation difficult; and also contributes to the rise of groups with ideas different from those defended by the leadership of the MST.

Fernandes (1996) affirms that since 1979, various experiences of land occupation have been consolidated in Brazil, marking a new phase in the struggle of the rural workers. He points out that the Ecclesiastical Base Communities (CEB’s)[8], in regard to social place and socialization space “was a reference for the new forms of social organization that emerged, as was the case of the MST. The CEB’s were places where it was possible to create space to communicate, to learn and to organize struggles...”(p74).

Stédile (1997b: 102) affirms that one of the first periods of the Movement occurred between 1979 and 1983, representing a return to struggles for land through occupation and mobilization in various regions of Brazil. This struggle contributed to the accumulation of knowledge and articulation among the leadership, which paved the road for the second stage of the MST, while its formal constitution, as a Social Movement, was realized at the National Encounter of the Landless, in 1984.

Three social/ideological aspects, according to Stédile (1997b: 102), were fundamental in the constitution/formalization of the Movement: the work of the Pastoral of the Catholic Church; the leadership of the newly born combative unionism (represented by the Central Union of Workers (CUT) and social agents from different organizations such as the Worker’s Party (PT). During this second phase, the organization was strengthened, increasing the number of occupations and manifestations around the struggle for land in the rural areas.

In the 1990’s, the third phase of the struggles of the MST, the investment in occupation of areas such as the Pontal do Paranapanema, brought the MST to notice, given the various reports in the general media. This third phase stands out because of the consolidation of material in the areas of education, formation and cooperation, especially where the objective was the to make the rural settlements economically viable through the development of associative and cooperative ways of production. However, the greatest visibility of the MST was achieved with the occupation of land in the region of Pontal do Paranápanema, located in the state of São Paulo.

It is necessary to highlight the question of internal and external organization of the Movement, which has contributed to its expansion on various fronts, not just in the struggle for land, but also in the struggle of survival conditions on the land. Among these conditions are the struggle for education, farm credit, and technical assistance, among others.

In 1984, the MST is consolidated, defining the national, state and regional urgency of organization and participation. It develops structures in the sectors of Education, Production, Training, Popular Fronts, Finances, Communication and National projects that are divided into International Relations and Human Rights. These sectors discuss the organization of the MST in local terms, elaborate proposals and decisions about themes that are necessary in each circumstance, as well as taking proposals to the state and national congresses of the movement. The different sectors are organized as much in camps[9] as in the settlements[10]. Each sector is composed of a representative who is responsible for the organization of the group and its articulation with other actors, such as the mediators (Unions, CPT. Universities and the NGO’s) and the State itself, in the process of negotiation connected to the disappropriation of land - the demands for farms. These representatives participate in political training courses that enable them to organize the political ideology at the base of the Movement.