Moral-political values and activist identity in the homeless workers movement (Brazil): popular education through moral and political culture

The Homeless Workers’ Movement (MTST) is a Brazilian social movement that organises the working class in the struggle for housing and other social rights. Some of the homeless population who participate in occupations in urban peripheries become activists. The article aims to describe the nature of the popular education provided by the MTST, to explore its potential contributions to the construction of moral values and political identity, and to characterise the movement’s political identity. Through 64 participatory observation sessions and a secondary analysis of interviews with 33 movement coordinators, the study found that the MTST establishes a moral and political culture that operates as an agent of popular education. By engaging camp residents in a system of practices grounded in values of social justice, solidarity, common good, and political activism, the MTST develops a form of popular education that fosters the construction of activist political identities aligned with these values.