This article reflects upon questions brought about during research with rural women, who call themselves and are known by others as quebradeiras de coco babaçu (cacao bean breakers). It deals with previous and present conflicts in which they and their families have been involved in Maranhão. Methodological concerns about interviews done with peasant and rural women leaders are discussed, emphasizing how past experience is reconstructed at the present time.
Agrarian conflict; Gender Relations; Peasant Memory