Editing Landless Workers' Movement (section)

==Organizational structure==
The MST is organized entirely, from the grassroots level up to the state and national coordinating bodies, into collective units that make decisions through discussion, reflection, and consensus. This non-hierarchical pattern of organization, reflecting liberation theology and [[Paulo Freire|Freirean pedagogy]], also avoids distinct leadership that can be bought off or assassinated.<ref name="Democracy">{{cite book |title= Democracy, States, and the Struggle for Global Justice|last= Gautney|first= Heather|author2=Omar Dahbour |author3=Ashley Dawson |author4=Neil Smith  |year= 2009|publisher= Routledge Cavendish|location= New York, New York|isbn= 978-0-415-98983-1|pages= 244–245}}</ref> The basic organizational unit, 10 to 15 families living in an MST encampment settlement,<ref>"encampment" is for a non-legally recognized occupation, "settlement" for one already recognized</ref><ref>Herbert Girardet, ed.''Surviving the century: facing climate chaos and other global challenges''. London: Earthscan, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-84407-458-7}}, page 186</ref> is known as a ''nucleo de base''. A ''nucleo de base'' addresses the issues faced by member families, and members elect two representatives, one woman and one man, to represent them at settlement/encampment meetings. These representatives attend regional meetings, and elect regional representatives, who then elect the members of the state coordinating body of the MST, a total of 400 members of state bodies—around 20 per state—and 60 members of the national coordinating body, around 2 per state. Every MST family participates in a ''nucleo de base'', roughly 475,000 families, or 1.5 million people. João Pedro Stédile, economist and author of texts on land reform in Brazil, is a member of the MST's national coordinating body.

The MST is not a political party, and has no formal leadership, other than a dispersed group of some 15 leaders, whose public appearances are scarce. This secrecy minimizes the risk of arrest,<ref>Lee J. Alston, Gary D. Libecap, Bernardo Mueller, ''Titles, conflict, and land use: the development of property rights and land reform on the Brazilian Amazon frontier ''. The University of Michigan Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-472-11006-3}}, page 63</ref> and also preserves a grassroots, decentralized organizational model. This is regarded as an important strategy by the MST, in that it allows the movement to maintain an ongoing and direct flow of communication between member-families and their representatives. Coordinators are aware of the realities faced by member-families, and are encouraged to discuss important issues with said families. This organizational blueprint seeks, in a way, to empower people politically by having them acting "in the way they see fit, true to local context."<ref>Anil Hira, Trevor W. Parfitt, ''Development projects for a new millennium''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004, {{ISBN|0-275-97502-9}}, page 25</ref> To assist with communication between Coordinators and member-families, and as an attempt to democratize the media, the MST produces the ''Jornal Sem Terra'' and the ''MST Informa''.

The structure and goals of the MST has led some authors to consider it a large [[Libertarian socialism|libertarian socialist]], [[Anarchism|anarchist]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Anarchy Works|last=Gelderloos|first=Peter|year=2010}}</ref> or [[Autonomist Marxism|autonomist Marxist]] organization.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Zibechi |first=Raúl |title=Genealogía de la revuelta: Argentina, la sociedad en movimiento |date=2003 |publisher=Letra Libre |isbn=978-987-20834-1-0 |edition=1. ed. en Argentina |location=La Plata}}</ref>