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"Struggles over Land and Power in the Newest Sugarcane Region of Brazil: A case study with global implications," by Fernanda Ayala, LACS Weekly Seminar Series

October 18, 2021

1:00 pm

G-01 Stimson Hall

Please register through the following link:
https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5jrGp_7CRniDXYgvKp_s7g

Sugarcane was one of the first crops introduced into Brazil by the Portuguese, and it has dominated the country’s political and economic formation since. In recent years, the highly modern, input-intensive ethanol industry has taken hold in a new region of Brazil, the former soybean fields of Mato Grosso do Sul. In this talk, Fernanda will outline her research into conflicts in this new sugarcane region between large-scale, highly-capitalized agro-industrialists and indigenous peoples who claim historic rights to the land in Mato Grosso do Sul. Through a case study of the Raízen-Caarapó ethanol plant, she will examine changing land use patterns, livelihoods and norms as expressed through claims to the land.

Fernanda Santa Roza Ayala Martins is a PhD student in the Social Sciences Graduate Program on Development, Agriculture and Society (CPDA) in the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). She is a visiting PhD student with Global Development in CALS with a scholarship from the Brazilian Federal Foundation for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES).

Additional Information

Program

Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies

Latin American and Caribbean Studies