Peasants, emotions and attempts of armed resistance to the business-military dictatorship in Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between militants of armed organizations and peasants during the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985).The focus is on how emotions have interfered with peasants’ processes of participation, disconnection and non-participation in attempts to form rural guerrilla groups, as emotions are an important way to better understand collective actions and political violence. The specific case analyzed in this article is the effort initiated by the National Liberation Command (Colina) in the countryside of the state of Rio de Janeiro and finalized by the Vanguardia Revolucionaria Armada Palmares (VAR-Palmares) in the border region between Maranhão and Tocantins.The study uses oral history as its main methodology and is based on interviews with survivors of that period. The analysis was also completed with files from the political police.