Description

“It is our human right to have land to farm,” says Lucia. “It is enshrined in both the constitution and the Bible. My dad believed the government’s promise of land reform, but it was only when he climbed onto the back of a lorry that you and others were occupying that he got his land. Nothing happens unless we take action ourselves.”

The right to land is fundamental for the poor in Brazil, a country where power is strongly linked to land ownership. The Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) successfully supported the left’s presidential campaign in 2002, and the ruling elite’s worldview was shaken when Lula won. The MST often moves in quite openly and occupies uncultivated land. But the struggle often meets with resistance, and the forms of struggle must be constantly renewed. The MST takes a holistic view of the path out of poverty and is strongly committed to ecology, equality, culture and education – all of which are interconnected, they believe.
Through its methods, the MST now plays a central role as an inspiration for other social movements in the struggle against neoliberalism and has for several years been one of the key forces behind the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre.

In *As Long as There Is Hunger*, reportage is interwoven with commentary and analysis. It is an easy-to-read and engaging introduction to the globalisation debate, based on the concrete reality of one of the world’s most unequal countries.THE AUTHOR: Lennart Kjörling has worked as an aid worker for UBV in Salvador for four years. He frequently gives lectures on the MST throughout Sweden. This is his first book. Together with Lasse Westman, he has made a film about the MST with the same title as the book.