Land Grabbing and the State: A Political Economy Perspective through Exploratory Case-Studies in MATOPIBA and Pará, Brazil

The methodology, is based on a preliminary selection of three case-studies within Brazil, to confront my research hypotheses regarding the role of state one could expect to witness in a land grabbing episode (H1 to 4). The cases emerged as representatives based on literature review and fieldwork – remote during the pandemic, and during my stay in Brasilia, it includes some exploratory interviews. Case 1 in MATOPIBA allows to question how grilagem schemes may constitute land grabbing, and how these dynamics articulate with land reform through formalization. Case 2 provides for a comparison with instances of land grabbing that seem to rest essentially on private invasions in a context marked by a relative absence of the state. I looked closer at instances of invasion of indigenous territories in the legal Amazon, Pará state. Case 3 represents an emblematic case of large-scale land-based hydro-electric megaproject, in Belo Monte (Altamira, Pará state), with a direct role of the state through the eminent domain. The preliminary analysis provides an overview of different modalities under which land grabbing as a fusion of property and sovereignty may occur. Political drives and effects on political decision making invite to reflect on the articulation of land grabbing and land reform through private violence.