Collaborative Research: Brazil's Direct Action Land Reform Movement: Environmental Impacts and Socio-spatial Dynamics

该项目解决了巴西亚马逊地区的直接行动土地改革（DALR）。在这里，DALR被定义为一个社会和政治进程，涉及动员穷人，有争议地占领公共或私人土地，以及占领后土地所有权的正规化。在今天的巴西，DALR是一个广泛的社会运动，由一些组织带头，比如MST，他们对联邦政府在土地改革方面的努力已经失去了耐心。DALR与国家主导的定居点努力不同，后者在该国有着悠久的历史。这项研究项目的动机，特别是与DALR相关的可能的环境影响，因为运动职业越来越多地针对亚马逊盆地的土地。研究活动包括在巴西亚马逊地区DALR特别普遍的帕拉州和朗多尼亚州进行实地考察。主要目标是阐明该地区土地覆盖变化过程中这一未被研究的重要因素。该项目采用了一套方法，以改善和系统化对DALR三个重要方面的全面理解，即运动领导人对空间的战略性利用，DALR导致的经典迁移模式的改变，以及与亚马逊土地占领相关的环境影响。这些方法包括：(1)关键信息提供者访谈，以记录运动领导者使用的空间策略；(2)人口普查微观数据的人口统计学分析，评估DALR相关的移民影响；(3)回归分析比较有和没有DALR土地占用的森林砍伐性质；(4)对土地占用点进行入户调查，评估移民历史、农业经验和土地利用实践。虽然许多研究都涉及热带森林砍伐，但对社会运动对土地覆盖变化过程的影响知之甚少。填补这一知识空白将补充以前的研究，对于充分理解导致亚马逊雨林和热带世界其他地区受到政治激励的土地定居影响的森林损失的因素至关重要。此外，DALR的多面性使得对这一主题的研究对于理解政治运动和民主化以及边境移民模式非常重要。由于DALR已成为巴西政策制定者和民间社会选民辩论的主题，该项目的影响可能会超越学术贡献。这项研究特别对该国的区域发展和保护倡议有影响。如果DALR在为农村贫困人口提供社会福利的同时导致森林砍伐和不可持续的土地利用，那么这项研究将有助于证明巴西需要重新调整农业和土地改革，以兼顾社会福利和环境可持续性。

This project addresses Direct Action Land Reform (DALR) in the Brazilian Amazon. DALR is defined here as a social and political process involving mobilization of the poor, the contentious occupation of public or private lands, and the formalization of land holdings in the wake of occupation. DALR is a widespread social movement in present-day Brazil spearheaded by organizations, like the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), that have grown impatient with the federal government's efforts at land reform. DALR is to be distinguished from state-led efforts at settlement, which have a long history in the country. This research project is motivated, in particular, by possible environmental impacts associated with DALR, since movement occupations are increasingly targeting land in the Amazon Basin. The research activities involve fieldwork in Para and Rondonia, two states in the Brazilian Amazon where DALR is particularly prevalent. The primary objective is to shed light on this unstudied, important factor in the region's land cover change processes. The project employs a suite of methods to improve and systematize a comprehensive understanding of three significant aspects of DALR, namely the strategic use of space by movement leaders, alterations in classical migratory patterns that have resulted from DALR, and environmental implications associated with land occupations in the Amazon. These methods include (1) key informant interviews to document the spatial strategies used by movement leaders; (2) demographic analysis of census microdata to assess DALR related migration impacts; (3) regression analyses to compare deforestation on properties with and without DALR land occupations; and (4), household surveys on land occupation sites to assess migration histories, agricultural experience, and land use practices. Although much research has addressed tropical deforestation, little is known about the impact of social movements on this process of land cover change Filling this knowledge gap will complement previous research and is essential for full comprehension of the factors driving loss of forests in the Amazon and in other parts of the tropical world affected by politically-inspired land settlement. In addition, the multifaceted nature of DALR makes research on this topic important for understanding political movements and democratization, as well as frontier migration patterns. The project will likely have impacts reaching beyond academic contributions because DALR has become a subject of debate among policymakers and civil society constituencies in Brazil. In particular, this research bears implications for regional development and conservation initiatives in that country. If DALR provides social benefits to the rural poor while leading to deforestation and unsustainable land use, the research will help document the need to restructure agrarian and land reform in Brazil in the interests of both social welfare and environmental sustainability.