Over the past 40 years the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST), one of the largest social movements in Latin America, has become famous globally for its success in occupying land, winning land rights, and developing alternative economic enterprises for over two million landless workers. The movement has also linked education reform to its vision for agrarian reform by developing pedagogical practices for schools that foster activism, direct democracy, and collective forms of work. In this talk, Tarlau explores how MST activists developed a pedagogical approach that prefigured its social vision, highlighting the central role of mística or the daily artistic performances that students create that link art and body to social struggle. Contrary to the belief that movements cannot engage the state without demobilizing, Tarlau shows how educational institutions can help movements—from Brazil’s MST to other diverse Latin American social movements—recruit new activists, diversify their membership, increase technical knowledge, and garner political and cultural power.

Sponsored by the Research Institute of CCSRE.