Youth Credit: The Social Construction of Modern Rural Youth

This article analyzes the processes of social construction of modern rural youth based on a pioneering experience of agricultural credit for rural youth initiated in the late 1950s in Brazil. The Youth Credit, articulated with rural extension services and rural youth clubs, was an instrument to insert rural youth into the modernization processes of Brazilian agriculture. The program sought to produce model references for modern rural youth under the tutelage of development agents. This agricultural credit policy represented an investment for the social construction of a modern rural youth committed to agricultural modernization in Brazil. The young beneficiaries had to be affiliated with rural clubs and follow established technical guidelines.