The Financialization of Agriculture in Brazil: Land Concentration and Foreignization

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the financialization of the Brazilian agricultural market, focusing on land concentration and foreignization. It emphasizes the role of the state in the financialization of land. This exploratory and descriptive study uses documentary research and social network analysis. The study is supported by strategic action field theory and the sociology of finance. The results reveal significant land ownership concentration in Brazil among large multinational agribusinesses and foreign institutional investors. A significant portion of investment flows in Brazilian land acquisition transactions was of foreign origin. Large agribusiness multinationals and large financial asset managers held prominent structural positions in the network of transactions involving large Brazilian lands. Financialization in the Brazilian agricultural sector can lead to management practices that maximize the interests of companies and financial markets by increasing these actors' control over this important segment of the Brazilian economy. From the perspectives of field theory and the sociology of finance, this study fills a gap in the literature by addressing the expansion of the agricultural market and agribusiness in Brazil as spaces for the reproduction of financial actors and markets. It also emphasizes the role of the state in this process.