Palms, pastures, and swidden fields: Political ecological trajectories and socio-natural transformations in peasant communities in Maranhao, Brazil

Informed by the historical background on land-occupation and land-use in the Mearim Valley, Maranhao, this study examines the interfaces among changes in resource-use in areas of secondary babassu palm forests; and social processes in a region of consolidated peasant occupation and ranching expansion in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The study compares socio-natural transformations in the communities of Pau Santo and Sao Manoel, in the municipality of Lago do Junco. Both communities were formed in the 1920s, expanded in the 1950s, and emerged from land conflicts in the 1980s, with most of their terrain converted into palm-pasture associations. The study examines the trajectories of land-use since land conflicts, and the resulting allocation of resources among agriculture, babassu extraction, and cattle ranching. It compares the forms through which pastures were reincorporated into fallow land for agriculture, and the contrasting ways in which cattle ranching has expanded in the two communities.; A narrative analysis of the socioeconomic and ecological dynamics, integrated with remote sensing and statistical techniques, indicate a greater availability of land and resources in Pau Santo, where less importance is given to environmental conservation, and lower levels of social mobilization and land-use planning exist. The reverse was found in Sao Manoel, where resources are scarce, but internal cohesion is higher. Residents of the latter community transferred to the post-struggle period principles of social organization established during the time of the land conflict. The analysis considers details that distinguish the environmental and the social histories of each community, but interprets these specificities within a broader conceptualization of relationships among human and social organizations, and the natural environment.; The theoretical orientation of the study integrates perspectives based on individual action, human-nature interactions, relational-rationality, the role of social structures, and practice theory. The resulting approach (grounded political ecology) conveys the notion of dynamic and interactive processes transforming social relations and the biophysical environment as constituent parts of the same integrated system.; The integration of palms, pastures, and swidden fields points to the complexity of socio-natural transformations affecting peasants in Maranhao. The analysis shows that the expansion of cattle ranching is likely to benefit better-off families in peasant communities. It does not exclude, however, the implementation of programs in support of those in the worst economic situation. Given palm/pasture ecological compatibility, and consensus over free access to babassu stands that was established in the region, the maintenance of pastures in lands within and around communities will favor the continuation of babassu as a key component in the livelihood of impoverished families.