Land foreignization in contemporary Brazil

theoretical and methodological reflections and developments in the territories

Abstract

The issue of land foreignization gained prominence at the beginning of the 21st century, following international capital's growing interest in land assets and natural resources after the 2008 financial crisis. In Brazil, the foreignization of rural properties has an important attention in political and media circles (as well as becoming the subject of academic research), drawing attention to the risks this process poses to national sovereignty, food security, and, more generally, sustainability. This paper seeks to reflect on the theoretical and methodological challenges of land foreignization in contemporary Brazil, highlighting the actors involved (global and regional), the sectors to which these investments are directed, and problematizing potential developments in the territories. Framing this phenomenon in a broader reading as land grabbing allows us to reflect on the phenomenon from a historical-processual perspective, without losing sight of its contemporary particularities. Considering the underreporting of official data by the Brazilian state and the difficulties in accessing reliable information, between 2017 and 2020, we analyzed 224 cases of enterprises, joint stock companies or investment funds, with foreign capital in their structure, that own land or whose activities require some form of control over the land, corresponding to around 9.1 million hectares, a number three times higher than official estimates.