8: Subjective Senses of Political Participation Among Rural Youth Associated With the Landless Rural Workers Movement in Brazil

Taking the phenomenon of youth from a historical-cultural perspective in conjunction with the Constructive-Interpretative Theory of Subjectivity, we analyze the subjective senses of political participation of rural youth within the National Youth Collective of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST). Methodologically, we approach this from a militant research perspective, with the involvement of three young individuals aged 21, 23, and 27—two men and one woman, all of whom are black. For data collection, we employed a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Photovoice technique. The results indicate that the participants identify themselves as young activists, incorporating the principles and values of the MST into their subjective meanings. The relocation to camps with their families, participation in Landless Youth meetings, mobilization actions, and gatherings were crucial for the development of their subjectivities. The construction of subjective meanings about being a young Landless is oriented toward collective and movement-related tasks, demonstrating a subjective sense inseparable from praxis. There is a noticeable sense of “debt” to previous generations, seeking to continue their struggles. Simultaneously, the youth forge new paths for the movement through active political participation in various organizational instances of the MST. They believe that involvement in the National Youth Collective can promote personal development, seen as a formative cycle influencing the life trajectories of its members by providing experiences in various political spaces within the MST.