The agribusiness jurists: foundational movements of Agribusiness Law in Brazil

Abstract

The article investigates the emergence of Agribusiness Law in Brazil, focusing on the disputes between two jurists – here referred to as Leandro and Otávio – who sought to consolidate this field. The research question is: How did these jurists' projects contribute to the formation of Agribusiness Law in Brazil? The objective is to analyze how these disputes reflect economic, political, and professional transformations associated with the rise of agribusiness. The research adopts a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews with jurists, documentary analysis of texts and speeches, and ethnographic observation of legal practices. The results show that the emergence of Agribusiness Law is related to the dynamics of the legal field, the reconfiguration of relations between the State, market, and rurality, and the struggle for symbolic power to define legal relations in the agrarian universe. While one project is anchored in a more academic and regionalist approach, the other is strengthened through transnational political, economic, and legal networks aligned with a market logic and neoliberal rationality. It is concluded that these disputes reflect the struggle for symbolic power within the legal field, while also highlighting the role of Law as an instrument for the adaptation and expansion of agribusiness in Brazil.