Uneven negotiations Resistance in the relationship between ranchers and ranch hands in southern Brazil.

Abstract

Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in cattle ranches of the Campanha gaúcha region, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, this paper analyses the relationship between ranchers and the ranch hands working for them. Ranchers (in Portuguese patrões or estancieiros) and peões (the ranch hands) share certain characteristics regarding their economic choices and behaviour. Nevertheless, the cultural differences between them, as well as the distinct positions they occupy in the hierarchy of their relationship, imply irrevocably on strong differences. While the reproduction strategies of estancieiro families’ social position are varied, peões face the unlikelihood of social ascension. These differences are more visible in certain elements of the peões’ projects of resistance to the domination by their patrões. It is through these projects of resistance that this article will analyse the ambiguities and dynamics of this relationship.