Education / communication in popular MST (Brasil)

Abstract

In this paper we reflect on the community educational practices developed by one of the most significant social organizations in Latin America, the "Movimento dos Landless Rural Workers (MST)", founded in 1984 in Brazil. The aim of this article is to contribute to current debates on the relationship of social movements to education and communication for the citizens in the region. We understand education as instances of communication, and communication as settings where collective learning, ie, education occurs. In this sense the idea of "socio-cultural process" is crucial to understanding the educational act as a commu-nicative act, and vice versa. In the first part, we present concepts and theoretical perspec-tives on the movements and rural organizations in the continent. In a second instance, we deepen the proposal of popular education in the MST, from the perspective of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, focusing on schools in rural areas and the formation of organic intellectuals. Finally, we discuss the role of community media managed by the movement, which become learning spaces for social change. This essay draws on specific literature on the subject and the analysis of journalistic material prepared by the MST.