O campo na luta por seus direitos: uma análise sobre a relação entre os trabalhadores rurais campistas e os direitos trabalhistas no Rio de Janeiro durante o período democrático(1945-1964)

Abstract

This dissertation proposes to establish a dialog between the Social History of and the Social History of Law through an inquiry into the history of the sugarcane plantation workers from Campos dos Goytacazes, from 1945 to 1964. The aim here is on their strife to have their labor rights guaranteed, whether through institutional means, or not. The historical trajectory of the Campos dos Goytacazes rural workers union, the process of proletarianization experienced by the sugar cane workers since 1940, and their engagement in strikes and stoppages were analyzed to show political identity formation amongst the campista working class during the Brazilian democratic period. At the same time, the analysis of individual and collective disputes of the rural proletariat in the Tribunal Regional do Trabalho da 1ª Região (1º Regional Labor Court) rulings intends to show the existence of a legal culture among sugarcane workers and their legal attorneys, which enabled them their own appropriations of the Labor Legislation, legitimizing social rights otherwise denied. We could also observe the limits and restraints of Justice and Equality in a classist society.