The power of dignity: Emotions and the struggle of Brazil's landless social movement (MST)

This thesis explores the role that emotions play in social movement participation and argues that through this involvement individuals are instilled with the "power of dignity." The individual's "old self" is replaced by a new, "dignified" self, which in turn spurs the participant to express varying levels of engagement in a given social movement. The Landless Rural Workers' Movement, best known by its acronym MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) was the chosen case study. Analysis is based on field research in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. An overview is provided of the movement's origination and spread throughout Brazil. Moreover, the thesis argues that social mobilization can generate trust between individual participants, and engender in citizens a sense of trust that their government will fulfill its constitutional mandate. Mobilization, then, can generate political stability and effect social change.