International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science (IJAERS) [Vol-7, Issue-4, Apr- 2020] https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijaers.74.29 ISSN: 2349-6495(P) | 2456-1908(O) www.ijaers.com Page | 227 Government and Popular Participation in the Brazilian Eastern Amazon Region i Edma Silva Moreira 1 , Airton dos Reis Pereira 2 1 Professor at Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará (Unifesspa), Brazil 2 Professor at Universidade do Estado do Pará (UEPA – Marabá), Brazil Abstract— This article intends to reflect on the popular participation in the collective struggles for land access in the Brazilian Western Amazon region, specifically the South and Southwest regions of the state of Pará, Brazil. This research also aims to contribute on the analysis of the different roles the Brazilian Government takes in these struggles, both as controlling entity towards the social movements (using physical violence as well as symbolic violence), and as part of the struggle when it takes over the distribution of expropriated land for landless settlers. Our analysis is based on specific literature, documents and interviews of leaderships from different social movements, as well as agents representing the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) of the region. The term “popular participation” is used here through a critical purview that understands that collective actions are more than the restricted and traditional meaning of popular participation within institutionalized spaces designed to allow different levels of public oversight towards state policies and policy making. We propose an understanding of popular participation that encompasess collective actions not necessarily accepted by the Brazilian Government, but that generate results towards the territorialization of peasants, the increase of transitory and final rural settlements, rural workers resistance and the improvement of the ability of settlers to remains in land autonomously and with dignity. Keywords— Popular Participation; Land Struggles; Government; Brazilian Western Amazon Region. i This article was written with the valuable contribution of Jaiane Vale Reis (on an undergrad research scholarship from FAPESPA). We would like to thank her very much. I. INTRODUCTION This article intends to reflect on the popular participation in the collective endeavor for land access in the Brazilian Western Amazon region, specifically the South and Southwest regions of the state of Pará, Brazil. This research also aims to contribute to the analysis of the different roles the Brazilian Government has partaken in these struggles, both as controlling entity towards the social movements (using physical as well as symbolic violence), and as a part of the changing forces when it takes over the distribution for landless settlers of expropriated rural property. The term “popular participation” will be used here through a critical purview that expands the concept to all collective actions seeking to change public interests, as well as social structures, and, therefore, proposes social transformation. (MARX; ENGELS, 1998; SANTOS, 2002; BORDENAVE, 1983). The critical usage of said term contemplates a less restricted and traditional perception about the meaning of popular participation, not only as the collective actions within institutionalized spaces designed to allow different levels of public oversight towards state policies and policy making. We propose an understanding of popular participation that encompassed collective actions - not necessarily accepted by the Brazilian government - that generates different types of results toward the settlement of rural workers/peasants, the increase of the numbers of transitory and final rural settlements, the ability of rural workers to resist and, also, the improvement of the effectiveness of settlers able to remain in their land in a productive, autonomous and dignified way. The time frame for this analysis comprises the experiences of fighting for land in Brazil between the re- democratization period - after the end of the Military Dictatorship (1964-1985) - until fairly recent years. Our goal is to demonstrate the lasting effects of the fighting for land long-established in this specific part of the Brazilian Amazon Region. It is worth mentioning, that rural workers have come a long way in securing their legal rights towards land access, as they endured extreme violence from the