Peasant resistance in the face of agribusiness expansion on the agricultural border of Chapada do Apodi/CE

Abstract

The portion of Chapada do Apodi limited to the municipality of Tabuleiro do Norte-CE has been transformed, from 2018, into a new agricultural frontier through the production of cotton by the company Nova Agro Agropecuária LTDA. The process of territorialization and achievement of this firm's production model has given rise to processes of injustice and environmental suffering, producing negative repercussions on peasant territories. Faced with this scenario, peasants have developed resistance experiences, counting on the support of civil society organizations, social movements, universities and popular legal advisory institutions. On a daily basis and through the justice system, there has been resistance from those impacted. In this sense, the objective of this work is to discuss the experiences of peasant resistance in the face of the expansion of cotton agribusiness in Chapada do Apodi, in Tabuleiro do Norte/CE, using the categories of everyday resistance and legitimate resistance. To achieve the proposed objective, some steps were necessary, namely: 1) bibliographic survey and review; 2) document analysis; 3) monitoring of lives and reports in newspapers; 4) fieldwork; 5) data analysis. From the study, it was verified the adoption of different strategies of peasant resistance, which contribute to the defense of life, land, environment and territory based on coexistence with the Semiarid region and agroecology.