Analyzing settlers strategies, this paper discusses modernization in rural settlements in Brazil. Two settlement nuclei in the state of São Paulo are analyzed. The first one was established in the sixties under the government of Carvalho Pinto. The second one, established in the eighties, was part of "Programa Fundiário", the agrarian program of Franco Montoro's government. This first settlement was planned by the State, and the settlers were selected based on existing criteria. Therefore, in this case, there was no struggle for land. On the other hand, the more recent nucleus presents a complex strategy which tries to maintain and reproduce the family on the land. For this reason, these families demonstrate an interest in the use of modern technologies, despite the lack of a planned policy on the part of the State. Instead, the State has been present in the settlement establishment more as a response to the landless workers struggle, which began to gain at the beginning of the eighties. It is obvious that the State lags behind in the development process, despite the need for more active intervention on its part.
