The profound socio-productive transformations, specifically those associated with the impact of global economic policies, influence the so-called rural social movements. This article aims to understand the changes that these rural social-movements have experienced, with a special emphasis on the historical transit of the rural collective action in this new scenario. The proposed hypothesis is that the fight for the land, reshaped from a symbolic and valoric perspective, is still a primary factor in the demands that originate these social movements. The emergence of the new rural social movements is redefined as a dispute for the territory, in other words, the land with a meaning and history. The discussion will be centered on the rural-environmentalist movements in the framework of mining conflicts since these question themes related to territory and identity.