The present paper aims at a reflection on the process of building the family farm category in contemporary Brazil. The reflection synthesized here is based on revisiting the main academic papers which have contributed to define the field of reflection of family farming in Brazil, documentary analysis and interviews with leaders and advisors of unionism family farming. It is argued that there were three sets of actors who promoted the construction of the category family farming in Brazil: some academic work that provided the basis for rethinking the theoretical location of this farm in the history and development of the country; State policies and legal regulations that gave visibility and operationally defined as comprising this category, and organizations of family farmers who have identified this category as their project and the use of agriculture as a political identity.
family farming; unionism; State actions; academic debate; recognition