The MST of Brazil and the construction of a self-managed educational system

Abstract

The Landless Workers Movement (MST, for its acronym in Portuguese) in Brazil is one of the paradigmatic cases of the New Social Movements. One of its features was that its organizational structure has not been limited to the struggle for land for the peasants, but has also expanded to other areas, of which we are particularly interested in education. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the MST was a pioneer in creating their own educational system that will attempt to answer the needs of its members. This involved the creation of self-managed schools that, following the pedagogical lines of authors like Paulo Freire or Moisey Pistrak, tried to be part of the transformation of the lives of peasants in Brazil.

This article explores the history of the MST as an organization and the way in which the creation of the Education Sector, the space within the organization that is responsible for the educational tasks, was decided, and then review of some of the general characteristics of these self-managed schools and its most visible pedagogical influences. In this sense, this work aims to contribute to the study of the New Latin American Social Movements and the way they try to solve the problems they face in their struggle for the transformation of the lives of the masses.