Revista Brasileira de Educação do Campo
Brazilian Journal of Rural Education
ARTIGO/ARTICLE/ARTÍCULO
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e9796
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2021
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Este conteúdo utiliza a Licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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University of life, rational and communicative action of a
social movement leader
Eloy Alves Filho
1
, Vitor Souza Lima Blotta
2
, Osvaldo Freitas de Jesus
3
1, 3
Universidade de Uberaba - UNIUBE. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Básica (PPGED). Campus Uberlândia.
Avenida Afonso Pena, 1.117, Centro, Uberlândia - MG. Brasil.
2
Universidade de São Paulo - USP.
Author for correspondence: eafilho@ufv.br
ABSTRACT. This article has as objective the understanding of
the social actions performed by Lourival Soares da Silva, who
stood out for a life dedicated to activism in the movements of
rural workers acting for several years as president of the Rio das
Pedras Settlement Association, in Uberlândia. To understand
and analyze their actions, a qualitative, observational approach
was used and also through semi-structured interviews, in the
methodological perspective of oral history. The theoretical
framework consisted of a combination of Max Weber's
comprehensive sociology, which is based on the understanding
of human conduct endowed with meaning, more specifically the
rational action in relation to values, with Jürgen Habermas'
theory of communicative action, centered on oriented actions by
the intersubjective agreements that are revealed in language and
communication. It is concluded that the meanings linked to the
social actions carried out by the social movement leader are
summarized in categories based on the values of equality,
justice, right to work, dialogue, democracy and collective social
action. These ethical and emancipatory standards are not limited
to their finalistic aspect, or their results, but above all in the
value of a daily course that is very present in the imagination of
social movements.
Keywords: social movements, social action oriented to values,
communicative action, extra-school education, leadership.
Alves Filho, E., Blotta, V. S. L., & Jesus, O. F. (2021). University of life, rational and communicative action of a social movement leader...
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Universidade da vida, ação racional e comunicativa de um
líder de movimento social
RESUMO. O objetivo primordial deste artigo é a compreensão
das ações sociais desempenhadas por Lourival Soares da Silva,
que se destacou por uma vida dedicada à militância nos
movimentos dos trabalhadores rurais, atuando há vários anos
como presidente da Associação do Assentamento Rio das
Pedras, em Uberlândia. Para compreender e analisar suas ações
foi utilizada uma abordagem qualitativa, observacional e
também por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, na
perspectiva metodológica da história oral. O referencial teórico
consistiu numa combinação da sociologia compreensiva de Max
Weber, que tem como fundamento a compreensão da conduta
humana dotada de sentido, mais especificamente a ação racional
em relação a valores, com a teoria da ação comunicativa de
Jürgen Habermas, centrada nas ações orientadas pelos acordos
intersubjetivos que se revelam na linguagem e na comunicação.
Conclui-se que os significados vinculados às ações sociais
executadas pelo líder de movimento social sintetizam-se nas
categorias baseadas nos valores igualdade, justiça, direito ao
trabalho, diálogo, democracia e ação social coletiva. Além disso,
esses padrões éticos e emancipatórios não se resumem ao seu
aspecto finalístico, ou em seus resultados, mas, sobretudo no
valor de um proceder cotidiano que está muito presente no
imaginário dos movimentos sociais.
Palavras-chave: movimentos sociais, ação social orientada a
valores, ação comunicativa, educação extra escolar, liderança.
Alves Filho, E., Blotta, V. S. L., & Jesus, O. F. (2021). University of life, rational and communicative action of a social movement leader...
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Trayectoria de vida, acción racional y comunicativa de un
líder de movimiento social
RESUMEN. Este artículo tiene como objectivo la comprensión
de las acciones sociales realizadas por Lourival Soares da Silva,
quien se destacó por una vida dedicada a los movimientos de
trabajadores rurales, actuando durante varios años como
presidente de la Asociación de lo Asentamiento Rio das Pedras,
en Uberlândia. Para comprender sus acciones, se utilizó un
enfoque cualitativo, observacional y de entrevistas
semiestructuradas, con base en la historia oral. El marco teórico
consistió en una combinación de la sociología integral de Max
Weber, que se basa en la comprensión de la conducta humana
dotada de significado, más específicamente la acción racional en
relación con los valores, con la teoría de la acción comunicativa
de Jürgen Habermas, centrada en acciones orientadas por los
acuerdos intersubjetivos que se revelan en el lenguaje y la
comunicación. Los significados vinculados a las acciones
sociales llevadas a cabo por el líder del movimiento social se
resumen en categorías basadas en los valores de igualdad,
justicia, derecho al trabajo, diálogo, democracia y acción social
colectiva. Estos estándares emancipatorios no se limitan su
aspecto finalista o sus resultados, mas sobre todo en el valor de
un curso diario que está muy presente en la imaginación de los
movimientos sociales.
Palabras clave: movimientos sociales, acción social orientada a
valores, acción comunicativa, educación extra escolar,
liderazgo.
Alves Filho, E., Blotta, V. S. L., & Jesus, O. F. (2021). University of life, rational and communicative action of a social movement leader...
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Introduction
This article is part of a research,
fulfilled within the Program of Post-
graduation in Education: Professional
Master of Education, University of
Uberaba – UNIUBE – in the research
line “Teacher Education, Pedagogical
Practices and Right to Learn”.
Its objective is to analyze the
meanings, which a rural worker leader,
not broadly known in the academic
milieu, has attached to his own life
history, the social struggles, not only in
regard to the ownership of a portion of
land by the rural workers, but also in the
ideal of including the working class in
the process of conquering a place of
autonomy and equality in society. To
understand how a leader personifies and
lives the social movements throughout
his life is the present challenge.
The theoretical approach of this
research relies on Max Weber, with
some view to the theory of
communicative action of Jürgen
Habermas. Both German authors use
analytical categories which help the
understanding of the social norms which
direct the social actions of the
individuals. On one hand, Max Weber
relies on the fact that perceptions and
cognitive expectations are related to the
actions of the others; on the other hand,
Jürgen Habermas admits the possibility
of intersubjectivity to become a
counterpart in the process.
Using some contrasts and
complementarities among these two
theories, it will be possible to analyze
the meanings, which the aforementioned
leader envisages to life and to social
activism, allowing the characterization
of interests, individual and collective,
among those personal, instrumental or
socially oriented. Our challenge is to
understand why, even not fulfilling
these highest goals in the agrarian
reform, the leader continues to talk
about social values and about justice and
equality.
These theoretical approaches
inform the qualitative empirical
analysis, which are organized in a type
of exploratory study, based on an oral
systematic history, in order to identify
the meanings, which are bound to the
actions of the leader of the social
movement, Lourival Soares da Silva.
The material and instruments,
used in the empirical analysis, consist of
the reporting of colleagues, documents
of the social movement and recoveries
of memories of the leader, available in
many semi-structured interviews, which
were registered and afterwards
transcribed. They are detailed,
Alves Filho, E., Blotta, V. S. L., & Jesus, O. F. (2021). University of life, rational and communicative action of a social movement leader...
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spontaneous, not subject to any
constraint and allow the understanding
about the meanings of the social actions.
In addition, they reveal a proximity with
the religious values of equality, social
change, inclusion, work and education.
These values have consistently taken
part of the political views of social
equality, and of the right to produce
one’s own subsistence and to
commercialize the rest.
The article is divided into three
parts. The first one is dedicated to the
theoretical part, having the theory of the
social action as its basis. The second one
gyrates around the empirical analysis.
The third one brings up the results of the
data, and it is presented in three specific
topics, followed by the final
considerations. We hope that this study
may contribute to a better understanding
of the right of the land and to the
refinement of the theories, and models
which are present in the social class
struggles.
Theoretical approaches: social action
oriented to values in communicative
action and social movements
For Max Weber, the object of
study of sociology is the social action.
He formulated a method, called ideal
type, which consist in the construction
of a model of analysis for the rational
understanding of the reality to be
analyzed. Based on these grounds, Max
Weber presents four pure types of social
action, such as: a – the social action
which is oriented to final ends; b – the
rational action oriented to values; c – the
affective action; e – the traditional
action. Explanation about them follows,
in Weber’s words:
A – The rational social action in
relation to its final end: it belongs to the
individual who owns an objective in his
action. This objective has a rational
frame to reach the intended objective,
considering the social action. The
individual picks out the adequate means
to reach the end and expectations in
other people’s behavior. An example to
illustrate can be the situation of a person
who qualifies is knowledge, by enrolling
in post-graduate courses.
B – Rational action in respect to
values: it is different from the action
motivated to a final end, because it
relies not in a target, but rather in
values, motivations, religious, political
convictions, ethical and aesthetic values
inherent of the action of the individual.
C – Affective action: to this model
belong those social actions, which refer
to emotions and feelings, as results of
situation or emotional discharge,
without any consideration about the real
Alves Filho, E., Blotta, V. S. L., & Jesus, O. F. (2021). University of life, rational and communicative action of a social movement leader...
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possibilities of success. A religious
person may undergo sacrifices, without
considering the advantages or
disadvantages of the actions.
D – The traditional action: it refers
to the social actions, which are derived
from past experiences, and customs.
Civic parades, commemorative parties,
and cultural ceremonies are common
examples, which illustrate this kind of
social action.
Weber (1996) opens space for the
individual in his research. His theory
focuses on the several aspects of the
social reality, starting from and moving
through the cultural sphere. For him,
human behavior is a social action
always when the individual gives a
meaning to it bound the expectations of
others. In other words, the social action
depends on the view of another
individual.
Following this line of thought, the
author stated that the object of sociology
is the search of the understanding of the
social actions. Based on this fact, he
believes that the social facts can be
understood in society. It must be said
that social actions exist, only when they
have a meaning attached to it and can be
communicated.
For the philosopher and
sociologist Jürgen Habermas, however,
the link with communication and
reciprocity, behind the social actions,
was not well explored by Max Weber.
According to him, when the social
actions, which involve values and
affections, there must exist different
modes of communication and
understanding. In this case,
interpretation and perceptions require
extra-effort to understand and to be
understood, because the participants of
the communicative action may try to
impose their point of view.
On account of this, Jürgen
Habermas presents a kind of social
action, which may be considered deeper,
because it involves reciprocity between
participants and it is rooted in a non-
competitive logic. As a communicative
action, which is reconstructed by step by
step by the participants, it allows the
construction of consensus. In Habermas’
own words:
The actions of the agents, who are
involved, are coordinated not by
selfish calculus of success, but
rather by the search of
understanding … This is not a
question of the predicates, which
an external observer would use to
describe the search of
understanding. Instead, it is the
pre-theoretical understanding of
competent speakers, who can
distinguish among situations, in
which they exercise the possibility
of reaching a mutual
understanding, and know that
communicative failures may occur
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and may be corrected (Habermas,
1984, p. 285-286).
In order to establish the analytic
parameters of this study, the dialogue
between the Weber’s and Habermas’
action, oriented to values, the
identification of the values which were
inherent in the life of the leader Lourival
Soares da Silva and the relationships
with his fellowmen will be taken up. In
addition, the criteria which were used as
parameters to measure the success of the
leader’s actions will be clarified, and
how they were constructed and used.
To qualify this collective
dimension of the formation of values
and behaviors of Lourival Soares da
Silva, it must be said, within the theory
of the social movements, the paradigm
of the collective identity, proposed by
Melucci (1994) was used. His
microssocial approach combines with
the subjectivity of the individual
analysis, present in the social political
and ideological conditions of the
historic context.
Melucci (ibid.) was interested in
the dimension of the personal life of
people, because he was convinced that
they were not totally determined by the
dimension of the social structures. He
used to say, “I always had a deep
interest in the emotional structures of
the people, because I do not consider
only the rational individual (Melucci,
1994, p. 153). About the similarity of
the social movements, he uses these
essential elements to analyze the
phenomenon of the collective action:
The collective action must be
considered an interaction of
objectives and obstacles, an
intentional orientation that is
established within the system of
opportunities and coercions. The
social movements are systems of
actions, which operate in the
systemic field of possibilities and
limits. It is in this sense that the
organization becomes a critical
field of observation, that is, an
analytic niveau not to be ignored
(Melucci, 2001, p. 52).
For the author, a social movement
is a collective action, which is
characterized by solidarity, but also by
manifesting a conflict, and bringing
about the rupture of the limits of the
compatibility of the system, in which it
is inserted. A social movement also
struggles for the ownership of material
and symbolic material, so far impossible
to be attainable.
According to Melucci (ibid.), a
contemporary collective action looks
like an underlying plot of the everyday
life. Within such a plot, the individuals
elaborate new discourses, new symbols
as well as new codes of behavior, by
means of innovating and decentralizing
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practices. Published, they signal to
authorities that society needs to be more
just and less subaltern, what presumably
allows the arising of a better society to
live in.
Melucci (idem) reasons that the
contemporary social movements do not
struggle only to the acquisition of
material means, or to take part in the
political system. Contrariwise, they fight
for symbolic and cultural projects, as
well as for conquests which have no
finalistic result. The social movements
generate new languages, new
methodologies of actions, new codes,
new symbols and new values, which
may happen to be incorporated into their
culture. For the author, these are the
greatest contributions of the social
movements and social actions. The fact
that these movements exist signal to
society that there social problems to be
tackled.
The social movements reveal new
cultural social political messages. In
addition, they are organizations that
defy the existing power, when they
mobilize people to express their view, to
struggle for the rights which have been
postponed. The social movements are
agents of modernization, innovation in
society, social and economic changes as
well as of creation of new strategies of
actions.
In this research, it must pointed
out the importance of the education in
the field, by means of what, the process
of awareness of the leaders and social
mobilization of the social leaders makes
a great difference, as it occurred with
Lourival Soares da Silva.
The proposals, conveyed by the
education in field, zero in on the
consolidation of the formation of the
people, since, as Freire (2011) says,
human beings are open projects to be
fulfilled. In the same line of thinking,
Arroyo (2004) points out education as a
process of transformation and
emancipation, within which, the values
of the men who lives in the rural life
gain power in heir struggle.
Anchored in the ideas of Kolling
& Molina (1999), scholars of education
in the field, as Lourival Soares da Silva,
with his dedicated life of struggle,
accepted the challenge to offer a
proposal of basic education, not as an
outside and strange element in the life of
the peasants, but as something which
arouse from within it. As it will be seen
here, this is rout which was chosen the
Lourival Soares da Silva.
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Methodology and the context of the
research
Using Weber (1989; 1994)
comprehensive sociology, this study
interprets the meaning of social action
as an element which is derived from his
participation in the action (Cohn, 1999,
2003). To complete the paradigm of
analysis, Habermas (1984), with the
theory of communicative action is
bringing in, in order to construct the
analysis of the shared values and the
reciprocity of the individuals with his
fellowmen or to reveal whether they act
without any expected goals for their
fights.
In regard to methodology, on
account of the type of study, the
qualitative approach was chosen, since
the subjectivity of the participants was a
realm to be observed as well as the
institutional political and social
contexts. As Minayo (2001, p. 21-22)
points out, a qualitative study “counts
on a universe of meanings, motivations,
beliefs, values and attitudes, what
corresponds to a more profound space of
relations and of the phenomenon, which
cannot be reduced to variables
operationalization”.
In the first part of this research, an
exploratory study was carried out, in
order to gather information about
Lourival’s life, beginning in the decade
of 1980, with the formation of the social
movements in the region of Triângulo
Mineiro, until the implementation of the
Rio das Pedras’ project, in the
municipality of Uberlândia, where this
research was conducted.
Along with this exploratory
research, data were gathered about the
rural settlement and the role, played by
the participants in the social movements,
registered in INCRA – Instituto
Nacional de Colonização e Reforma
Agrária – in free interviews with
colleagues and local inhabitants. This
procedure allowed to form a central
theme of investigation, as point out
Triviños (1987) and Gil (2008).
With these data at hand, as well as
with some personal knowledge, formed
in 5 years of work in INCRA, as a
regional consultor and superintendent,
the reason to choose Lourival Soares da
Silva was justified. He has been a rural
worker for over 30 years, who did not
receive any formal education, and has
struggled in favor of his fellowmen to
conquer a portion of land, in which they
can live their family.
As a consequence of his social
struggle, in favor of the ownership of
land, Lourival became part of a social
construction or of an imaginary
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representation, more real than reality
itself. According to Baczko (1985),
social relationships require the
continuity of human existence and of
acts, represented in images or in texts,
capable to consolidate abstract ideas and
sociocultural values. Therefore, to
sharpen the memory of social groups by
bringing up speeches is advisable to
keep high ideals alive. This study offers
those who do not have a portion of land
an opportunity to preserve the memory
of their social struggle.
The procedure, chosen to generate
historical knowledge as well as of the
present time, was oral history.
According to Harres (2008), it is
acceptable to use in research oral
sources to accomplish the intended
results. The research, fulfilled basically
with oral sources, relies on trustworthy
representative information. On account
of this, the choice of the persons to be
interviewed, the time to interview, the
local in which to interview and the
sequence of questions become central
concerns in the study. The process of
oral history involves the interviewer, the
interviewed, the electronic implements,
the surroundings, an adequate language,
and an accurate attention of the
participants. For the information to
become a reliable document, narratives
and stories are introduced to stimulate
spontaneous versions about the life of
the leader.
The usage of oral source helps to
register facts with abundance of details,
emotions and in our case, the rational
actions and communicative actions
practiced by the interviewed. This type
of methodology permits that the history
of persons or groups, so far underlying
in the silence of society, be exposed to
the benefit of all. Some contributions of
oral history, according to Joutard (1999,
p. 33), can be grouped into 3 functions:
1 – a chance to hear the excluded and
the forgotten; 2 – a chance to give
visibility to the indescribable realities; 3
– a chance to give testimony to
situations, considered lost case.
These aspects are relevant and
meaningful to the oral Brazilian history,
because they allow scholars and social
activists to denounce injustices, give
visibility to anonymous people, invite
members of these groups, and public
agents to reflect upon social injustices
and exclusions. The methodology of
oral history allows the investigation of
social problems in depth, as in the
question of land concentration, of class
struggle for land ownership, of housing
in urban spaces, of Indian land
reservations, etc. In summary, oral
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history has contributed to the
understanding of our social reality,
carried out by the actions and struggles
of those individuals who can not bear
social injustice.
Thompson’s (1998, p. 337),
enriching words, summarize the effort
of our anonymous actor: “Oral history
gives back to people their own history.
By retrieving their own past, they can
move towards their future”. As it
sounds, oral history refills words with
new meanings, with the flavor of
enduring struggles, with the living blood
of those, who have fought to write the
Brazilian history.
As a matter of fact, memory can
be considered a counterpart for oral
history, since meanings and time flow
simultaneously. The recollections of the
individual turn out to be history itself.
Delgado (2003, p. 10) understands that
“it gives direction to perspectives and
visions of the past, calibers the present
and projects the future”. From this point
of view, the actions and perceptions of
the leader are interpreted as his personal
and collective history take place.
In addition, this methodology was
chosen, because it is more creative and
interactive. It allows to deal with
various aspects of idealizations about
facts and phenomena, kept in peoples
memory, whose registration is partial,
incomplete, as Freitas (2006, p. 62) says
“the oral discourse, is more natural and
more spontaneous, detailed and
expressive. On the contrary, the written
discourse is more formal, elaborated and
stereotyped”. In summary, the
methodology of oral history allow a
broader harvest of facts and details
which would not be possible otherwise.
The interviews themselves reveal
crossed information and knowledge,
which combine to form a new ground of
understanding of social reality (Santos
& Araújo, 2007. p. 195).
The reconstruction of the history
of the leader Lourival Soares da Silva
turns to be a narrative, in which facts
and events follow in a chronological
order, comprising more than 20 years,
with the examination of documents,
reports, interviews and long
conversations.
The pathways, learnings and options
of life
The first author of this research
became acquainted with Lourival Soares
da Silva, leader of the social movement,
while he was INCRA’s consultor in the
1990 decade. Afterwards, during 3
years, as he met the leader a few times,
when they could debate ideas about the
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ways to government could help to
improve the agrarian reform.
To meet Lourival again in 2019,
after 20 years, was a happy coincidence
for the first author of this research. It
brought about reflections about the
character, who dedicated his entire life
to social movements, collective actions,
endangering his own life.
To recover aspects, facts, actions
and experiences of his life history was
an agreeable experience and an
enriching process of discovering the
paths he followed. The opportunities
which came to be, the options which
were fulfilled since his infancy until
today, remain full of meaning, since he
has never stopped the struggle in favor
of the agrarian reform.
The retrieval was an exercise of
memory, associations of facts and dates,
permeated with strong emotions, either
in function of victories or in function of
losses, which point out to a work begun
much earlier in the life of leader. As an
example, the difficulties he found to
study. Facts and events like these
explain the choices made by him.
The city of Juazeiro do Norte, in
the State of Ceará, is considered the
cradle of Lourival. He was born on May
18, 1949. When he was 6 years old, his
family moved to Triângulo Mineiro, in
order to study and to work in the farms
in precarious conditions. In the decades
of 1950 and 1960, an expansion of the
agricultural area took place, because
new techniques were discovered to
improve the production of the fertile and
of the cerrado soils.
Before using machines,
handworkers were gathered to carry out
harvests of corn, rice and later,
soybeans. After the modernization of the
fieldwork, machines and attempts of the
owners not to follow the regulations of
the law of working class were common.
The workers were expelled from the
farms. As a consequence, they became a
class of workers without a soil to work
on, popularly called “the landless
people”. These hard social conditions
did not help Lourival to continue his
studies. Three times, he tried to go on
with his studies, but the situation turned
to be unbearable. Farmers and lay
teachers were not capable to sustain the
continuity of the studies of the
youngsters. In the case of Lourival,
when we talk about education for life,
we refer to a journey, in which there are
interruptions and continuities, while the
individual goes on, learns, experiments,
understands and legitimates himself,
allowing the construction of his own
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identity and of the unjust society in
which he lives.
Living in such a society, the
rational individual, an idealist fellow,
believes that a better world is possible
and shares with companions the results
of the collective actions in search of a
piece o land to live, work and die with
dignity.
Historically, the social and
political conditions in Brazil favored a
division of the land, which allows a few
to have almost all the land. As a result,
the structure of income and properties
brought about injustice and
unacceptable levels within a civilized
and just society. The scarcity of schools,
especially in the rural area, and the
precariousness of the conditions
contributed to Lourival’s dropping out
of school. For three times, he tried, but
he could not prosper. Even so, he
succeeded in overcoming the lack of
formal education. Life brought him
lessons which he grasped and advanced
in the search of his own autonomy.
Educational and Professional
Education
As a Brazilian citizen and
northeastern immigrant, Lourival was
sensitive to the impacts caused by the
social, economic and political
conditions which led the country to such
a situation. Moving from farm to farm in
search of work, he could sit down in the
classrooms of literacy, experiences
which marked his life. He still
remembers “Cartilha da Infância”, used
in the Brazilian schools in the 1950
decade.
It is a fact that he could not remain
in school, but he selectively learned
from life. Lourival acquired a broad
universe of informal knowledge, and
developed a profound Christian belief,
by means of his contacts with some
progressive priests of the catholic
church of Ituiutaba and Uberlândia.
Due to the cooperative and experiential
mode of learning, we can say that
Lourival composed his vision of the
world from the matrix of the Christian
values of solidarity and justice.
Since 1979, still in Ituiutaba,
Lourival took part in the Ecclesial
Communities of Base-CEB, with
continuity in Uberlândia. Presently, he
is the president of the Association of the
Project of Settlement of Rio das Pedras,
and member of Movement of Land and
Liberty – MTL. As soon as he started to
take part in the social movements in the
1980 decade, he never gave up the
struggle, keeping himself active,
influential in all places and in actions,
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proposing the improvement of the
conditions of life and production of
foods in the settlements.
The main conditions, which
oriented the formation of the knowledge
and life experience of Lourival, were his
native qualities of leadership and ideas
of refusal of inequality and injustice.
Schools could never teach this type of
world vision.
One can say that Lourival is a sage
in his everyday actions. He is reflective,
analytical in all moments, careful in his
conversations and selective in his
speeches, with a great capacity to
associate ideas and make new syntheses.
Most participants in the meetings say
that he always speaks only after de the
second half of the events. In general, at
least half the approved proposals
approved represent what Lourival
himself proposed. This fact reveals
Lourival’s capacity to communicate and
to reach consensus. It also proves that
his attendance of an intermittent school
did not deprive him from becoming the
leader, he turned out to be.
Another important aspect in
Lourival’s life, which deserves
attention, is the answer he gave, when
he was asked about his reading habits.
He stated that he had never read a book,
except the Bible itself. His own words
were the following: “I never read a
book, except the Bible” (Interview,
November 10, 2019).
It was the reading of Bible which
prepared him to think about the human
situation and the awareness of social
injustice in society. The Bible helped
him in his involvements in the social
movements. It allowed him to realize
the importance of political choices to
make social actions consistent and
everlasting. Faith and steadiness brought
up political awareness and the necessary
strength to provoke changes in society.
The biblical values of honesty,
solidarity, unity, self-sacrifice and
readiness to work collectively have kept
alive the ideals of social change. Until
the present time, he has taken part in
sessions of biblical readings, prayers
and faith commitments. For him, there is
no incompatibility among religion, faith
and political actions, even if risks of
transgression may occur.
It was very important in his
formation his capacity to listen whoever
spoke, and to think about the messages.
Two priests of Ituiutaba, an INCRA’s
superintendent, coincidently, the person
who presents this research and some
judges in some occasions enriched could
witness Lourival’s social charisms. In
one of those sessions, he said “life
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above all and the social lower only to
Christ”.
It also calls our attention the fact
that the Bible could provide him with
the necessary tools to struggle against
social injustice in society. As a
professional person, he worked for
many years in agriculture, in a paper
industry and as a technician in Central
Elétrica de Minas Gerais – CEMIG –
Minas Gerais. As a whole, most of his
life span has been used to go on with the
political struggles.
The project of the settlements of Nova
Santo Inácio and Ranchinho and Rios
das Pedras
Lourival took part in the social
movement which took hold of the farms
which became the settlement of Nova
Santo Inácio and Ranchinho in the
municipality of Campo Florido, the first
one to approved in Triângulo Mineiro.
The occupation occurred in 1993 and
the settlement was officialized in 1994,
for the benefit of 115 families. Lourival,
as a settler, worked in the portion of
land for 11 years. He also took part in
organization of the MTL of
Uberlândia. To help his work in the
settlement, he exchanged his property in
the settlement, where he played the role
of president of the association for many
years.
For us to understand with depth
the relationship among the actions
which were developed by Lourival, it is
essential to contextualize the spans of
time he lived, each one having a
different mode of decision and of
actions. So, it is necessary to focus upon
the historical moments and political
conditions which favored concentration
of income and properties in society.
Rural exodus, human work being
replaced by machines, unemployment in
the rural area, especially among those,
who were illiterate or poorly qualified to
work in the environment of technology.
In the time of the organization of
the social movements, the occupations
of the unproductive farms, as well as of
public buildings and social demands,
especially the spaces of INCRA, the
leaders personified the essential values:
land to live in and to work to get the
necessary income to lead a family.
Lourival conquered the confidence of
his fellowmen to present these demands
and to struggle for them.
He took part in more than 10
occupations of farms, helped to organize
the conquered farms and gave support to
carry out other invasions. Instead of
feeling sorry on occasions, his values
and principles were always on top,
especially when he helped to people to
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overcome poverty. Despite the fact the
did not have opportunities to advance in
his formal education, today he can see
the children of the settlers, studying in
public schools.
Lourival got his lot of land,
measuring 17 hectares, where he
cultivated vegetables, produced cheeses
and candies to be sold. He lives in basic
house, with electrical energy and
potable water. A truck of his is used to
commercialize his products and to
locomote to meetings. Lourival brought
up three children: one is a pharmacy
technician; another one is an electrical
technician and a girl who became a
teacher. No one lives the settlement,
because of their professions an career.
He is retired by the Instituto Nacional de
Seguridade Social – INSS. Despite of
this, he has not stopped to work.
A Hermeneutics of speeches
In this section, we will study the
speeches of our leader, considering not
only the written texts, but also the
pragmatic norms, as Habermas (2002)
proposes. It would not be exaggerated
and polemical to say that some leaders
of the social movements may be
considered icons, but, in this case, the
sense of duty with the collective, in
search of the dignity of the human
person, is really outstanding. Now, we
are going to analyze ant to interpret, as
close as possible to the original
meaning, the interviews of our leader.
Asked about Lady Maria
Elizabeth, his wife, in a marriage which
started in 1972, he answered: “she is my
beginning, may middle and my end”
(Interview, October 10, 2019). The
depth of some of his answers are
impressive. In this case, it deals not with
a poetical form, but rather with a
pragmatic situation. She gave him
support, inspiration and balance
throughout his active life. As a sign of
gratitude and recognition of her value as
a human being, the wife gained
prominence in the couple’s life.
He is convinced that, because he is
a leader, his family had to face
situations, in which she was able to
handle the problems in the absence of
the husband. Nowadays they live
together without those problems, which
were overcome, because she could
understand his situation as a leader of
social movement.
In Lourival’s point of view, no
children of the settlement will be out of
school. On this matter, a question was
put to him about education and
answered: “Education is like money; if
well used, it is good; if badly used, it is
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bad” (Interview, October 10, 2019).
Another wise answer, considering that
the person who answered the question
had a tiny chance to have school
education.
For him, a humanizing,
participating and loving education is
very important, especially for the
excluded. In his dealings with people, he
worked with scholars, politicians, public
managers and with scientists of high
levels, who were not sensitive about the
needs of the excluded. That is why he
thinks that education has two sides: one
good and one bad. Formal education, for
instance, allows human rationality to
pursue the desired objectives to be
reached.
The environment, for Lourival,
has to be recognized as the greatest of
all values, since the destruction of
nature menaces the future of life on
earth. A considerable part of his lot in
the settlement is spared for preservation.
When one asks him for some piece of
wood, he says: “The trees belong to
God, nobody can cut them down”. In the
lowest part of his lot, there is a humid
area, near a rivulet, which has been
preserved and he does not allow
economical exploration there.
While he reflects upon the
difficulties that he faced since his
moving from the northeastern of Brazil,
such as, the hardworking, the
impossibility to study, social
exploration, the struggle against the
unjust system, he feels that he did his
best: “Individually I feel good, but
collectively I do not”. (Interview,
October 10, 2019).
This answer reveals his awareness
about the social situation in the
settlements. This capacity to distinguish
between private and publica life reveals
a critical view of living in society as a
leader. The oral history methodology
offered us an important opportunity to
dialogue with Lourival, observing the
language of body and eyes as sources of
deep meanings.
Even after having advanced in
many fronts in his struggle, as the
conquest of a lot to live in, the building
of his house, the buying of his car and
his children educated, the concern about
the situation of the whole settlement
never abandoned him. The future, he
ponders, will fair only when everybody
can have access to the goods civilization
has produced.
As our analysis follow ahead, we
come across another jewel of Lourival’s
thoughts. He says: “I believe I will
never stop acting, while the poor has to
carry the luggage of the rich”. Interview,
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October 10, 2019). In fact, since the
ecclesiastic communities of basis in
1979, he never stopped the work, which
can be considered a transcendental
mission.
Lourival succeeded in
incorporating in practical and theoretic
grounds some values of the catholic
church, such as, the fusion of experience
and values in ethical and moral
concepts. He himself remembers Dom
Hélder Câmara, when says: “As long as
I have strength in my legs and my
tongue, I will walk and speak”.
(Interview, October 14, 2019).
As a matter of fact, Lourival is not
only a visionary, but also a missionary.
To overcome social injustice and
inequality became a dogma which he
never gave up. Religion and social
activism, based on religious
foundations, were his terrain. Violence
was not a part of his reservoir of actions,
even in the moments of confrontation
among settlers and police. In 1991,
when the settlers were surrounded by
the police force, which used bombs to
intimidate them, he insisted in
dialoguing.
As he says: “I have been an
activist throughout my life. An activist
never brings home anything.”
(Interview, October 10, 2019). In this
sentence, one can see the sense that he
gave to his mission: to work in the
construction of a society, in which all
may live in peace and in justice. His
methodology has been the dialogue
learned in the university of life.
As we could revive Lourival’s
steps and struggles in society, we could
also figure out the synthesis that he
managed to do: his social actions, care
for his family, the settlement, nature,
religion and an especial mysticism
became an original combination,
stamped in his personality. The Catholic
Church, especially the Movement of
Communities of Basis (CEB), was the
source from which drank.
His past personal experiences as a
rural worker from northeastern
immigrant, difficulties to pursue formal
education and his actions within CEB
made a great difference. Always ready
to exercise the role of leader, he
combined reflection, dedication to the
settlers’ cause, and helped to start then
MLT – Movimento Terra, Trabalho e
Liberdade. These values helped to
consolidate his strong personality,
stamped in his public image in the land
of Triângulo Mineiro.
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Final considerations
This research tried to analyze and
understand the rational social actions,
performed by Lourival throughout his
life. A great depth is perceptible in his
actions in favor of social justice and a
disposition not to stop the struggle, as
long as in justice and inequality persist.
In this sense, Max Weber’s
concept of social action, geared to
values, explains the structure of
Lourival’s endeavors to change the
social situation of those who are victims
of society. In addition, Jürgen
Habermas’ concept of communicative
action reinforce the role that dialogue
may produce the social changes in
society. It makes a great difference that
fact the Lourival acted as a person who
has rooted beliefs in what he did.
In summary, we can say that
Lourival has been successful in his
endeavors, because he has been coherent
in his beliefs, strong in is actions, and
patient in the rhythm that he has
impressed to his social duties. The
importance and the meaning of these
values fit in Max Weber’s in 1989, page
43: “because of the importance of the
cause, not mattering its goal”, social
actions are successful.
We can state that Lourival’s
responsibility in the social movement
and the collective struggle, which he
managed to carry out, became his main
occupations in life. These values
became his passions and everlasting
ideas, in such a way that they became
his transcendental mission. His life has
been a complete dedication to his
family, to nature and to the settlement.
Retirement was not a motive for him to
give up the motives of life struggle.
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Article Information
Received on June 29th, 2020
Accepted on March 13th, 2020
Published on May, 30th, 2021
Author Contributions: The author were responsible for
the designing, delineating, analyzing and interpreting the
data, production of the manuscript, critical revision of the
content and approval of the final version published.
Conflict of Interest: None reported.
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How to cite this article
APA
Alves Filho, E., Blotta, V. S. L., & Jesus, O. F. (2021).
University of life, rational and communicative action of a
social movement leader. Rev. Bras. Educ. Camp., 6,
e9796. http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e9796
ABNT
ALVES FILHO, E.; BLOTTA, V. S. L.; JESUS, O. F.
University of life, rational and communicative action of a
social movement leader. Rev. Bras. Educ. Camp.,
Tocantinópolis, v. 6, e9796, 2021.
http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e9796