WOLFORD, Wendy University of California - Berkeley The study addresses the formation of social networks on land reform settlements affiliated with the largest grassroots land reform movement in Brazil (MST: The Rural Landless Workers Movement). Regional characteristics in northeast and southeast Brazil are examined in the context of how they affect the formation of networks and how the different networks, in turn, affect settlement production. A suite of methodologies is employed that includes observation, structured and unstructured interviews, quantitative network analysis, and qualitative mapping of network structures. A geographic perspective is introduced into the literature on networks, and a unique contribution is promised to understanding network formation as a continual process influenced by the places in which network communities are situated.
