The Brazilian quilombo: ‘race’, community and land in space and time

Abstract

More than a century after the abolition of slavery in Brazil, the term 'quilombo' continues to evolve new meanings, not all of them associated with its common definition as a runaway slave community. In this article, I discuss the significance of quilombo in its diverse social, political and historical contexts, demonstrating how changes in the uses and meanings of the term reveal broader trans-historical, juridical, political and metaphorical processes. I argue that quilombola communities should not be conceptualized as a racial category, but rather as a system of social organization and a right. Specifically, I show how the term quilombola is currently a way actors identify with Afro-descendants in order to achieve political recognition. I also describe how contemporary practices involving quilombos reveal historical tensions over land conflicts between historically marginalized rural black communities, private interests and governmental authority. I draw on evidence from field research in southern Brazil to illustrate my understanding of how quilombos work.

Territories Under Siege: Risks of the Decimation of Indigenous and Quilombolas Peoples in the Context of COVID-19 in South Brazil

“…Accordingly, the 1988 Constitution granted quilombola communities the right to definitive ownership of their lands, stating the importance of historical lands and stepping away from the understanding of the Portuguese Ultramarine Council (1741), which considered quilombos as groups of fugitive slaves that presented risks to the colonial order until 1889 [ 21 – 23 ]. Therefore, it took the Brazilian State over 100 years to recognize a share of these peoples, herein considered original peoples.…”

Brazil’s policies threaten Quilombola communities and their lands amid the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Quilombolas, as well as Indigenous Peoples, have rights over their lands guaranteed by the Brazil's Federal Constitution of 1988. Nevertheless, they are constantly threatened by political decisions, agribusiness, mining, and the impacts of oil and gas exploitation (Leite 2015;Polidoro et al 2020).…”

“…In Brazil, among the different social groups, the quilombolas are even more threatened during the pandemic (Polidoro et al 2020). Quilombolas are Afro-Brazilian descendants of slaves who fled slavery, and Brazilian legislation recognizes quilombola communities due to their forms of territorial occupation and use of nature according to their traditions, which are derived both from African ancestry and from traditions passed down from generation to generation (Leite 2015). The enslaved quilombola ancestors fled to the forest to create small settlements (called quilombos) as a strategy in their struggle for freedom.…”

Who owns paradise? Afro-Brazilians and ethnic tourism in Brazil’squilombos

“…Despite constitutional and statutory measures (e.g. the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, the Brazilian-ratified Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and the 2003 Presidential Decree 4887) -which guarantee quilombos communal land rights over their traditional territory and recognize communities' right to ethnic self-identification -influential state and political elites have contested their legal designation in order to restrict their basic rights and to prevent large-scale land distribution (Almeida 2011;Hooker 2005;Leite 2015).…”