The effects of contemporary ambivalence in the Brazilian social movement: a study from the representations of the landless in textbooks

Abstract

This paper shows a sample of the research conducted during my Master thesis when we looked for mapping the ways in which multiple cultural artifacts teach us “truths” about the subjects involved with the Landless Worker’s Movement. We problematize, in particular, the different attributes related to the identity of the landless that are in circulation in public school through a History textbook distributed by the State. Among the theoretical and methodological tools used, we emphasize the notions of representation, curriculum and identity, considered according to what is understood by the poststructuralist Cultural Studies in Education. The results point to the ambivalent way in which landless were represented in the school publication. It allows us to discuss, at the end of this article, the relevance of the social movement nowadays and the complexity of the struggle that the landless still engage to conduct.

Keywords: curriculum and identity, teaching of History, Landless Movement.