Experiences of Land Struggle in the Santa Catarina Highlands: An Experience Report with the MST

Abstract

This experience report explores the dynamics of violence in the land struggle in the Santa Catarina Highlands, focusing on the actions of the Landless Workers' Movement (MST). The text describes the experiences and perceptions of the forms of repression faced by the movement at physical, symbolic, psychological, territorial, and institutional levels. The adopted methodology, an ethnographic approach of participant immersion, involved living in MST settlements, camps, and political actions. Results indicate that the expansion of pine monoculture, driven by pulp companies, exacerbates environmental degradation, labor overexploitation, and social inequalities in the region. It is concluded that MST actions represent forms of territorial, political, and symbolic resistance, anchored in agroecology, community solidarity, and confrontation with state and private violence. The movement thus presents itself as a concrete alternative to the exclusionary development model, combining resistance with the construction of new ways of life in rural areas.