Mística, myself and I

Beyond cultural politics in Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2360910
AutoresAlex Ungprateeb Flynn (0000-0002-5894-5328, University of Cambridge, autor correspondente), Alex Flynn (0000-0001-7957-8769, University of Cambridge)
Ano2013
Volume33
Fascículo2
Páginas168-192
Data de publicação2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCritique of Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0308-275X • E-ISSN: 1460-3721
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0308275x13478223
OpenAlexW2326634266
IdiomaCA
Citações recebidas12
Referências citadas24

How do grassroots social movements respond to shifting perceptions within their bases on key issues? This article centres its analysis on the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST - Landless Rural Workers' Movement) and instances of the movement's cultural activity, in particular, mística. It is recognised that the MST's cultural activity reflects a deep engagement with cultural politics, and further, that the movement's culture sector contributes directly to the delineation and formation of the 'landless' identity. However, from an ethnographic perspective and privileging the experiences of the members of the movement, this article goes beyond cultural politics to suggest that shifting notions of individualism, in the context of the movement's cultural activity, are having an impact on MST artistic expression and members' daily lives. The article argues that from within the bases of the movement, there has been a shift from what can be termed a receptive individualism, where members internalise cultural activity, to an expressive individualism, where members actively seek to shape the movement's cultural programmes. Members speak of a lack of visceral energy that the culture sector's activities used to possess, which provides the impetus for the article's concluding remarks on how social movements respond to transformation more widely

Aesthetics · Context (archaeology · Cultural identity · Ethnography · Grassroots · Individualism · Movement (music · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Social science · Sociology · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Social and Economic Solidarity · Urban and sociocultural dynamics