This article present the diversification livelihoods approach as a method to study of alternative life in rural areas, an analytical tool that also provides a way to monitor and evaluate the performance of rural development public policies. Initially the article tries to recover the original livelihood approach, describe the adjectives trajectory that accompany their concept and, based on the benchmarks used by some its main authors, the research shows the theoretical status of livelihoods approach and it potential to contribute with the Brazilian world rural studies.