THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION OF RURAL WAGE WORKERS: FROM THE BRAZILIAN COMMUNIST PARTY TO THE NATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WAGE WORKERS (CONTAR)
This project aims to analyze the construction of the political representation of the category "rural wage earner". We question which elements characterize or do not characterize the existence of rural wageworkers over the years, drawing on case studies discussed in the bibliography. Specifically, we analyze how from the creation of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) in 1922 to the creation of the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Assalariados e Assalariadas Rurais (Contar), in 2015, the category has been consteted, mobilized, and interpreted. Furthermore, we contextualize the profiles of workers associated with this identity, including “agricultural workers”, “colonists”, “bóias-frias” and “sugarcane workers”. Our guiding hypothesis posits the impossibility of homogenizing these groups, particularly in periods preceding the modernization of agriculture (1960-1970), due to both regional factors and the influence of non-monetary elements such as housing provision, family labor, and access to plots for food production. Finally, we highlight the lack of understanding by certain political institutions regarding the fragmented and complex existence of these subjects.