Schneider S., Tomazzoni G.C. Panorama of cooperativism in Brazilian agriculture in Alexander Chayanov’s perspective // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №1. P. 25-54.

EDN: DRJNJY

Annotation

In the last decade, Brazil has witnessed a significant expansion of cooperativism in agriculture. However, the cooperative movement did not follow a uniform pattern, revealing asymmetries and inequalities in Brazilian cooperativism. The article aims at describing cooperativism in Brazilian agriculture, for which the authors analyze data of agricultural censuses (IBGE, 2006; 2017), using markers to distinguish socialpolitical categories of family and non-family agriculture. In addition, the authors examine variables related to gender and education characteristics of farmers, distribution of rural units by area, purpose of agricultural production, sources of income, and access to technology. According to the results, there is a significant number of farmers affiliated with cooperatives in Brazil. However, cooperativism is concentrated in one of the five macroregions of the country and is more typical for non-family rather than family agriculture. Moreover, there are differences in cooperativism by size of property, and units associated with cooperatives in Brazil are more focused on marketing their production than the non-cooperative ones, which is reflected in the share of agricultural income in the total income of farmers and their families. Based on the results, the authors reconsider the ideas of Alexander Chayanov (2017) to assess the potential of cooperativism in the development of Brazilian agriculture if based on a more planned society and economy.

Keywords

Cooperativism, agriculture, Brazil, Alexander Chayanov.  

About the authors

Sergio Schneider, DSc (Sociology), Full Professor of Sociology of Rural Development and Food Studies, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Farroupilha, Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul, 90010-150, Brazil.
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Gean Carlos Tomazzoni, PhD (Management), Associate Professor, Federal Technological University of Paraná. Av. Sete de Setembro, 3165, Rebouças, 80230-901, Curitiba, State of Paraná, Brazil.
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Schneider S., Nikulin A.M. “In the joint comparative studies, there is much we can learn from each other” // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №3. P. 167-185.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-3-167-185

Annotation

In the autobiographical interview, Sergio Schneider, a leading Brazilian sociologist in the field of sociology of rural development and professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, reconstructs his scientific career and considers dramatic changes in the life of rural and urban communities of Brazil in the late 20th—early 21st century. In particular, the interview focuses on the development of rural sociology in Brazil, its institutionalization, and research interests of those Brazilian social scientists that determined the development of rural sociology and were the teachers of Sergio Schneider. The development of rural sociology in Brazil is presented as influenced by the German, French, American and English historical-sociological traditions of the study of the agrarian question and interaction of the city and the village. The interview emphasizes the significance of A.V. Chayanov’s intellectual heritage for the worldview of Sergio Schneider and Brazilian rural sociology in general. Sergio Schneider stresses the importance of his personal activist position that has always helped him in the search for interaction between politics and science. In conclusion, he raises the question of the development of comparative Brazil-Russian-Chinese rural-urban studies, in which he currently participates.

Keywords

Brazil, sociology, regions, peasantry, university science, rural development, Marxism, Chayanov

About the authors

Sergio Schneider, DSc (Sociology), Professor of Sociology of Rural Development and Food Studies, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Av. Paulo Gama, 110, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 90040-060.
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Alexander M. Nikulin, PhD (Economics), Head of the Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Head of the Chayanov Research Center, MSSES. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp, 82.
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