POLITICAL OPPORTUNITIES AND THE INTERACTION REPERTORY OF THE LANDLESS WORKERS MOVEMENT OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE IN THE FÁTIMA BEZERRA GOVERNMENT (2019-2022)

Abstract

The research agenda on state-society interaction has taken on new contours in view of the process of de-democratization of the Brazilian state in the 2010s, with one of the focuses being to understand the interactive models established in local governments. Given this situation, Rio Grande do Norte (RN) is a relevant case, considering the election of a PT state government in 2018, in contrast to the national situation. In this sense, we are asking whether the arrival of Fátima Bezerra, from the Workers' Party (PT), to the state government represents a political opportunity for socio-territorial movements in RN to establish their repertoires of interaction at state level and how the dynamics of interaction take place. For this research design, we used a qualitative-quantitative approach. We looked at the case of the Landless Workers' Movement (MST). From this case, it was observed that this movement, in the time frame studied, before and after the arrival of the Fátima government, accessed political opportunities and established a repertoire of interaction beyond the expectations of a model based on the PT way of governing.