Expropriation of land, violence and migration: Maranhão peasants in the sugarcane cut in São Paulo

Abstract

The aim of this text is the analysis of peasants' migratory process from the state Maranhão/Brazil to work at the sugar cane plantations of the state of São Paulo. This process results from expropriation in the last decade in this region. The analysis pretends to study the temporary migration as a process of family's members that migrate and those ones that remain there. The universe of the research is constituted by the cities Timbiras and Codó (Maranhão) and Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo). The methodology is based on oral history, collection of documents and photos.