Aico Nogueira holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo (1991), a MA in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (1996), a PhD in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (2001) and a postdoctoral degree in Environment and Society from the Center for Studies and Environmental Research at the University of Campinas, NEPAM (2013). He was Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics, LSE, UK (2013-2014 and 2016-2017), and a Scholar of the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee, University of York, Toronto, Canada. He is currently an Assistant Researcher in the Department of Forest Sciences at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, and a Research Fellow in the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CALAS), Guadalajara University. He has worked as a consultant in the area of development and public policies for institutions such as the World Bank, FAO-UN, UNDP and the Brazilian government, and also as a professor in higher education institutions in the areas of sociology, scientific methodology, local development, international relations and public policy, with an emphasis on rural poverty reduction.

Publications:

(forthcoming). Production and consumption networks for agroecological products: rural and urban social movements in the transition to sustainability in Toronto and São Paulo.

(forthcoming). Agroecological Settlements in Brazil and the role of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in the transition to sustainability.

(forthcoming). Common management of natural resources in protected areas: interinstitutional dialogue, social capital and agency in the transition to agroecological systems.

2020 (with Coelho-Junior, M. G., Iwama, A. Y., González, T. S., da Silva-Neto, E. C., Araos, F., Carolino, K., Ferrante, L.). Brazil’s policies threaten Quilombola communities and their lands amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecosystems and People, 16(1), 384-386. doi:10.1080/26395916.2020.1845804

2018. Institutionalization of rural social movements in the Lula government and the declining of land reform in Brazil: co-optation, political identity, and agency. Análise Social 227, LIII (2.º), 2018, 362-387. http://analisesocial.ics.ul.pt/?page_id=38

2017. Lulism and the Institutionalization of Social Movements in Brazil: Strengthening Democratic Inclusion and Perpetuating Hegemony. Tempo Social, Série 29, n.o 3, 229-260. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-20702017000300229.

2013. Os caminhos da utopia no Brasil: Estudo de uma experiência de comunidade alternativa no Planalto Central do Brasil. Novas Edições Acadêmicas.

 

Research project as CALAS fellow

Title: Rural social movements, environment and agroecology: social transformation, sustainable development and rural-urban integration

Abstract: This research proposal aims to study the role played by social movements in environmental preservation, food security policies and their effect on climate change mitigation initiatives in Latin America. Taking as a case study a comparative analysis among agroecological settlements and responsible consumption groups in the Greater São Paulo, Brazil, this research focuses on the leadership role played by rural social movements such as the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in an alternative processes of exploitation of natural resources, and transition from conventional agriculture to agroecology. Likewise, how the alliances between rural and urban social movements have contributed greatly to the construction of short circuits of production, commercialization and consumption. In addition to the significant impacts in terms of transition to sustainable production systems, the phenomenon studied has shown the new social configurations being built mainly in large urban centers, through partnerships between the rural and urban spheres. Besides new opportunities for employment, income generation and socio-productive inclusion of traditionally marginalized populations, this phenomenon also shows new institutional settings, public policies and interinstitutional dialogue. Having as conceptual starting points the concepts of de-commodification, degrowth, multi-level governance, agency and intersectionality, as well as quantitative and qualitative methods, this research is built on an original quantitative data sets that identify the perceptions of members of rural social movements, public policy makers and consumers in large urban centers in Brazil, on issues such as environmental preservation, transition to sustainability, agroecology and responsible consumption. Moreover, it is also based on nine months of qualitative fieldwork in eight agroecological rural settlements, and responsible consumption groups in the greater São Paulo. This research proposal seeks to expand theoretical debates about the new emerging roles of social movements in the construction of sustainable development, natural resources exploration, fair distribution and efficient allocation of resources, as well as how these aspects contribute to human well-being and sustainability.