In the light of some works about messianic movements and Messianism in Brasil, the article seeks to find, in the transforming practical of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST), elements of rationality strongly connect to a) peasants' social condition of workers free from traditional ways of domination and, due to that, exposed to a reordering of their world b) the magic and symbolic content of a popular religiosity which provides then with a way to interpret their destination. From the intersection of these two situations, the author seeks to find the aspects which determine a social conflict - the fight for land - that guarantees the effectiveness of the action itself as well as the dilemmas of these men. The basic concept of "messianic logics" or "messianic ethos" and the notion of social action of the weberian theory are used to discuss the contradictions involved in the destination of rural social movements.
messianism; without-land worker; popular religiosity; politics; racionality; social action