Debora Lerrer
| Post-doctoral researcher in Social Science and faculty member at the Graduate Centre for Development, Agriculture and Society (CPDA), Federal Rural University, Rio de Janeiro. She is also journalist and author of two books focusing on the public debate about agrarian reform in Brazil. She has been researching the Brazilian agribusiness and the MST (Landless Rural Working Movement) in the past recent years. Email: debora.lerrer@gmail.com |
Research on Land-grabbing:
Impact of Restrictive Legislation and Popular Opposition Movements on Foreign Land Investments in Brazil: The Case of the Forestry and Pulp Paper Sector and Stora Enso (with John Wilkinson)
We will analyze the new role of the Southern Cone countries in the global forestry and pulp paper market and the impact which this is having in Brazil. Secondly we will review the way in which the sector has been affected by, and is responding to, Brazil´s restrictive legislation on foreign land investments. And thirdly we will examine the opposition movements which have developed to challenge the expansion of the sector in Brazil, particularly those of the landless movement. While we will present an overall analysis of the sector, our research will center on the leading foreign firm, Stora Enso. This firm is active in both of the major investment regions mentioned above, and is an ideal case for studying both the reactions of foreign capital to restrictive legislation by national governments and the opposition movements which this type of land investment provokes.
