Financialization of Farmland, Environmental Destruction, and Land Rights: TIAA and Harvard Investments in Brazil and Beyond

This panel will present academic and grassroots research about the impacts of speculation with farmlands in Brazil by international pension funds and endowment funds, as in the case of TIAA and Harvard University. Negotiations of farmland as a financial asset cause deforestation of the Cerrado biome, which is the most biodiverse savanna in the world, and intensify violence against indigenous, quilombola (Rural Afro-Brazilian), and peasant communities.

Panelists:

Maria Luisa Mendonça: Research scholar at the Center for Place, Culture and Politics, CUNY Graduate Center.
Fabio Pitta: Professor of Human Geography at Universidade de São Paulo.
Daniela Stefano: Journalist, radio producer, editor. The three panelists do research for grassroots NGO Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos.

Moderator:
Joyce Chaplin: Professor of Early American History, Department of History, Harvard. Event co-sponsored by RLLEG (Romance Languages and Literatures Environmental Group) and EHWG (Environmental History Working Group)

To register: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wA_lW3v6TCKvG7zhs0Wpmg