“ Lutar, construir, reforma agrária popular ”: Decolonial Analysis of the Landless Workers’ Movement Legitimation Process in the Traditional Food Market

This study examines the legitimation of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) (in English, Landless Workers’ Movement) in the traditional food market through the decolonial lens of transmodernity. Legitimacy is conceptualized as a process shaped by regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive pillars. Although marketing and macromarketing literatures address market legitimacy, they leave unexplored the legitimation processes of organizations from the Global South that challenge dominant capitalist logics. Addressing this gap, the study analyzes how the MST - historically criminalized and positioned outside formal market systems - strategically engages markets while sustaining anticapitalist commitments. Using a qualitative, multimethod approach informed by decolonial epistemology, the research combines desk research, interviews with MST leaders and consumers, and observations in organic food fairs and Armazém do Campo stores. Findings show that the MST attains partial legitimacy by mobilizing certifications, agroecological values, and consumer worldviews, reinforcing the idea that markets are just as political as commercialization arenas.