Maybe the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) of Brazil has one of the hugest social base and most radical leftist program in Latin America. It constitutes an unavoidable reference for all contemporary leftist peasant movements both in Latin America and in the other continents as well. Its legendary combative land occupations and its highly organized and conscious autonomist system of popular education in the spirit of Paulo Freire designate the MST to be the most massive and theoretically most advanced bloc of the Via Campesina. The author, a Brazilian sociologist, presents us a relatively detailed account of the main practices of the movement, of its theoretical starting points and also its practical results.

The main incentive for the multiform land grabs is the utilitarian, profit-oriented use of land. Among the leitmotivs of the present wave of land grabs, especially on the global South, one could find the increasing ecological problems, and the speculation for the likely future boom of food prices. The centralization of land control and the food production that is dominated by profit based industrialized factory farms is hamstringing agrarian small producers and is aggravating the population of slums; from the other hand it is incompatible with the needs of an ecologically sustainable agriculture and the food sovereignty of the peoples.

The author looks at the world-systems analysis as a recent, up-to-date and adequate form of the Marx rooted critical social theory – contrary to Wallerstein himself, who regards his attempts as establishing a new and interdisciplinary science, although in its direct factors of emergence giving credits to elements of the Marxian tradition. The world-systems analysis, nevertheless offers a fruitful and rich insight, with several players, which can be tested against reality.

The study is a critical evaluation of Wallerstein's theory on "historical capitalism": drawing general theoretical conclusions especially on changing social forms and demanding a stricter class based approach. In the countries of the former "Eastern Block", the world-systems analysis is more useful in sociology and in historical science than the trendy theoretical tools, which replace the backward looking soviet "historical materialism", like the "civilization" based approach, the "clash of civilisations" or even fully desisting theories. It is time for social scholars in East Europe to read the inspiring sources of Wallerstein, namely the works of Latin American and African authors of the dependence school.

The edited version of the lecture given at the Eszmélet Academy of Social Critique: the heritage of Bibó as a chapter in the humanist tradition of Hungary. [Kossuth Klub, February 8, 2011.]