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Revisiting Theories of Frontier Expansion in the Brazilian Amazon: A Survey of the Colonist Farming Population in Rondônia's Post-Frontier, 1992-2002

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  • Browder, John O.
  • Pedlowski, Marcos A.
  • Walker, Robert
  • Wynne, Randolph H.
  • Summers, Percy M.
  • Abad, Ana
  • Becerra-Cordoba, Nancy
  • Mil-Homens, Joao

Abstract

Summary In the 1970s, extensive areas of Brazilian Amazon were settled by landless farmers. These internal migrations prompted theoretical scholarship on the nature and outcomes of frontier expansion from three general frameworks: the capitalist penetration thesis, the inter-sectoral articulation thesis, and the household life-cycle thesis. This paper reports selected findings of a 10-year (1992-2002) panel study of 240 farms in three settlement areas in Rondônia. The empirical findings of this longitudinal survey research do not unequivocally confirm any of these theses. Instead, elements of each emerge from the data analysis inviting a more locally nuanced, pluralistic approach to understanding the frontier colonization experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Browder, John O. & Pedlowski, Marcos A. & Walker, Robert & Wynne, Randolph H. & Summers, Percy M. & Abad, Ana & Becerra-Cordoba, Nancy & Mil-Homens, Joao, 2008. "Revisiting Theories of Frontier Expansion in the Brazilian Amazon: A Survey of the Colonist Farming Population in Rondônia's Post-Frontier, 1992-2002," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1469-1492, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:8:p:1469-1492
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    1. Keith Bakx, 1987. "Planning Agrarian Reform: Amazonian Settlement Projects, 1970–86," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 533-555, October.
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    3. Oestreicher, Jordan Sky & Fatorelli, Leandra & Mertens, Fréderic & Lucotte, Marc & Béliveau, Annie & Tremblay, Stéphane & Saint-Charles, Johanne & Davidson, Robert & Romaña, Christina A., 2018. "Rural livelihood trajectories in the central Brazilian Amazon: Growing inequalities, changing practices, and emerging rural-urban relationships over nearly a decade," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 10, pages 34-43.
    4. Jose Manuel Ochoa-Quintero & Charlotte H. Chang & Toby A. Gardner & Mariluce Rezende Messias & William J. Sutherland & Fernanda A. C. Delben, 2017. "Habitat Loss on Rondon’s Marmoset Potential Distribution," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Heitor Pellegrina & Sebastian Sotelo, 2019. "Migration, Specialization and Trade: Evidence from the Brazilian March to the West," 2019 Meeting Papers 863, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. Fox, Jonathan, 2020. "Contested terrain: International development projects and countervailing power for the excluded," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Patrícia Feitosa Souza & Diego Ricardo Xavier & Martha Cecilia Suarez Mutis & Jurema Corrêa da Mota & Paulo Cesar Peiter & Vanderlei Pascoal de Matos & Mônica de Avelar Figueiredo Mafra Magalhães & Ch, 2019. "Spatial spread of malaria and economic frontier expansion in the Brazilian Amazon," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-25, June.
    8. Kronenburg García, Angela & Meyfroidt, Patrick & Abeygunawardane, Dilini & Sitoe, Almeida A., 2022. "Waves and legacies: The making of an investment frontier in Niassa, Mozambique," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(1).
    9. Luciana S. Soler & Peter H. Verburg & Diógenes S. Alves, 2014. "Evolution of Land Use in the Brazilian Amazon: From Frontier Expansion to Market Chain Dynamics," Land, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-34, August.
    10. Sanches, Rosely Alvim & Futemma, Célia Regina Tomiko & Alves, Heber Queiroz, 2021. "Indigenous territories and governance of forest restoration in the Xingu River (Brazil)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    11. Bennett, Mia M., 2018. "From state-initiated to Indigenous-driven infrastructure: The Inuvialuit and Canada’s first highway to the Arctic Ocean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 134-148.
    12. Barbier, Edward B., 2020. "Is green rural transformation possible in developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    13. Edward Barbier & John Bugas, 2014. "Structural change, marginal land and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 23(1), pages 1-29, December.
    14. Cláudio Almeida & Moisés Mourão & Nadine Dessay & Anne-Elisabeth Lacques & Antônio Monteiro & Laurent Durieux & Adriano Venturieri & Frédérique Seyler, 2016. "Typologies and Spatialization of Agricultural Production Systems in Rondônia, Brazil: Linking Land Use, Socioeconomics and Territorial Configuration," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-20, June.

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