Serviço social e questão agrária no neoliberalismo: a atuação de assistentes sociais como intelectuais orgânicos (as) no Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra

Abstract

This study addresses the relationship between Social Work and the agrarian question in neoliberal Brazil, taking as its empirical reference the insertion and professional practice of social workers within the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST). Grounded in historical-dialectical materialism, it combines bibliographic,

documentary, and database research with fieldwork conducted through semi- structured interviews with social workers active in different sectors of the MST. The

study understands the agrarian question as a historical and structural expression of Brazilian social formation, characterized by land concentration, unequal access to land, and the intensification of social issues within the neoliberal context. The findings reveal that the work of social workers within the MST goes beyond restricted institutional practices, constituting a fundamental mediation in processes of collective organization, political education, and the strengthening of the struggle for land and Popular Agrarian Reform. Professional involvement is shown to be closely linked to the concrete demands of rural workers, particularly in the areas of rural education, access to fundamental rights, social mobilization, and the development of collective strategies of resistance against the deterioration of living conditions and the expansion of agribusiness.The research demonstrates that professional practice, guided by the ethical-political project of Social Work, directly contributes to strengthening class consciousness, political participation, and the defense of working-class rights, reaffirming the social worker as an organic intellectual committed to emancipatory processes. It concludes that the articulation between Social Work and the MST constitutes a strategic connection in confronting structural inequalities, resisting neoliberalism, and building a societal project oriented toward human emancipation.