RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND/OR MILITANT CONSUMPTION: THE CASE OF THE TERRA E LIBERDADE COOPERATIVE

Abstract

This work results from an action-research carried out with the Terra e Liberdade cooperative, of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), which sells agroecological foods produced in settlements located in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The cooperative organizes consumer groups, but also serves any consumer through an e-commerce website. We discussed engaging consumers in what would be a “Militant Consumption”, in which consumers take an active role in the process, taking on tasks, committing themselves to the cooperative. The “Militant Consumption” would result from the integration of the subjects in a collective project, based on the construction of the agroecological matrix of production, in the struggle for agrarian reform. This requires building affective ties and a work routine that sustains this project in everyday tasks, while at the same time making connections with the political horizon explicit, giving meaning to face emerging challenges. We will explore how this militant consumption develops, what challenges occur (establishment and breaking of agreements) using semi-structured interviews with participants of the Militant Consumption Groups and questionnaires applied to the wider public, having support in the psychodynamics of work to decipher aspects of how the practical daily work supports these processes.