This month we are excited to present an in-depth conversation with Professor Sérgio Sauer, who works at University of Brasilia in Brazil and is a visiting scholar at University of Helsinki in Finland. We explored the landscape of land struggles in Brazil and how extractivism and social conflict has shaped Brazil. He started his career on the ground at an agricultural frontier and has worked extensively with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) and questions of justice for rural inhabitants. Sérgio gives us a historically informed view of how Brazil’s agricultural geography has developed over the last 60 years. In addition, he traces out the interplay of scholarship and activism and how this plays out in resistance to extractivism.

You can also find Sérgio on Twitter @SergioSauerUnB, and please also check out the Observatório Matopiba.

Sérgio recommends that if you are interested in the themes discussed in this episode to check out the film “The Burning Season”, which tell a story of real-life activist Chico Mendes, who was murdered in the 80s for his work.