The contested nature of Afro-descendantquilomboland claims in Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, Afro-descendant quilombola communities were for the first time in history recognised as legal rights-holders to land in the 1988 constitution; one hundred years after the abolition of slavery. Drawing on fieldwork in the quilombo Bombas in the state of São Paulo, and review of relevant literature, this contribution explores the historical trajectory of the constitutional quilombo provision and how it has been translated into practice. Combining a discussion of the use of self-identification and the concepts of 'regulation', 'force', 'market' and 'legitimation' when analysing the dynamics of access and exclusion, we show how struggles over land are simultaneously enacted in controversies over the meanings of quilombola identity and its implications.

Climate Justice and Participatory Research

“…2 Restrictions on cultural practices have generated notifications of environmental infractions for Quilombolas, putting them at risk of being arrested just for developing their traditional practices. This is despite much evidence on the role of Quilombola communities in Atlantic Forest conservation (Diegues et al, 2000;Diegues & Viana, 2004;Pereira & Diegues, 2010;Penna-Firme & Brondízio, 2007;Adams et al, 2013;Thorkildsen, 2014;Thorkildsen & Kaarhus, 2017).…”

“…Beyond the right to land tenure, the Federal Constitution also legitimized the cultural rights of the Afro-descendant Quilombola communities and other traditional peoples, in Articles 215 and 216 (Brasil, 1988). Despite such institutional advances in the Federal Constitution, the implementation of Article 68 for access to land required an additional definition of "Quilombo," since the Federal Constitution did not specify this (Thorkildsen & Kaarhus, 2017). This legal "gap" became an arena for political disputes over the guarantee of Quilombola rights to their territories.…”