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(Re)Membering the Quilombo: Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Recognition in Brazil

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(Re)Membering the Quilombo: Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Recognition in Brazil (Re)membering the Quilombo: Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Recognition in Brazil By: Elizabeth Farfán A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Joint Doctorate of Philosophy with the University of California San Francisco in Medical Anthropology in the Graduate Division of the University of California Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Chair Professor Charles Briggs Professor Sharon Kaufman Professor Teresa Caldeira Fall 2011 Abstract by Elizabeth Farfán Joint Doctorate of Philosophy in Medical Anthropology with the University of California San Francisco University of California Berkeley Professor Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Chair African ancestry and collective resistance to slavery play a central role in access to constitutional rights for Brazilians living in rural black communities denominated comunidades remanescentes de quilombos. In the effort to repatriate lands to the descendants of quilombolas or fugitive slaves, the Brazilian government, together with the Brazilian Anthropological Association, and Black Movement activists, turned rural black communities into national patrimony through a series of public policies that emphasize their ethnic and cultural difference by connecting them to quilombo ancestors. Article 68 of the 1988 Brazilian constitution declared that any descendants of quilombos who were still occupying their ancestor’s lands should be recognized as owners and granted land titles by the federal government. With the help of NGOs, rural black communities are re-learning their identity and becoming quilombos in order to obtain the land and social rights they need to continue surviving. While the quilombo clause may seem like an important historical change in the ability of black Brazilians to use the constitution to their advantage, it is important to ask what the stakes are of becoming a quilombo for the residents of a community. Here I explore the ways in the quilombo recognition process has significantly impacted the lives of a community in São Francisco do Paraguaçu in the Recôncavo of Bahia. Engaging with scholarship that questions multiculturalist policies, new forms of citizenship, and the re-construction of colonial subjectivities into modern political identities, I argue that the quilombo clause, and the bureaucratic system built to support it, recycles a romanticized and nostalgic story of slavery and resistance in colonial Brazil through a process I call (re)membering. Here, I illustrate the ways in which the once colonial “quilombo” has been re-imagined into a new differentiated community (the comunidade remanescente de quilombo) rooted in ethnic and cultural difference for the purpose of distributing collective rights to black citizens. I contend that by focusing on the cultural difference of rural black communities, the quilombo clause ignores the racialized political and social discrimination that these communities 1 have faced historically and continue to face. Although the quilombo clause was meant to address the history of discrimination and exclusion of black communities, it has actually led to social confusion and conflict surrounding the validity and authenticity of a differentiated identity for quilombo descendants. 2 (Re)membering the Quilombo: Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Recognition in Brazil The façade of a quilombola home. From left to right, the signs read: “We are quilombolas with a lot of pride” and “I know what it is, that is why I am a quilombola.” Photo taken by Elizabeth Farfan. i For my family who has waited so long ii I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………1 a. A New Constitution, A New “Quilombo” b. (Re)membering a History and Forming an Identity c. The Problem of Authenticity in a Process of (Re)membering II. Methodology and the Challenges of doing a Critical Anthropologic Study of the Quilombo ..…………………………………………………..……………………………………...…26 a. Getting Acquainted to São Francisco do Paraguaçu through the Media b. In the Shadows of Ruth Landes: Another North American Studying Blacks in Brazil c. Finding My Own Ground in the Anthropology of the Quilombo d. Political Warnings: Anita’s Dangerous Attempt to Help São Francisco do Paraguaçu III. A Selective Memory of the Past: The Historical Context of Quilombos …………………………………………………………………………………….……..…49 a. History of Slavery and Resistance b. Eugenics and the Scientific Solution to the New Race Problem c. The Rise of the “Cosmic” Mestiço and the National Integration of Afro-Brazilian Culture IV. Making Race and Nation: The Formation of a Multicultural State in Brazil ……………………………………………………………………………………………...71 a. The Multicultural State: Black Inclusion and Differentiated Citizenship b. Indigenous and Black: Quilombos, Mocambos, Palenques, Marroons, Garifunas c. Choosing Ethnicity and Culture over Race and Skin Color d. Forging the Ethnicity and Downplaying the Race of Quilombos in Brazil: The Role of the Brazilian Anthropological Association (ABA) V. São Francisco do Paraguaçu Boqueirão: Land, Community, Environment, and Work ……………………………………………………………………………………...………92 a. The History and Culture of the Bahian Recôncavo b. Convento Santo Antônio do Paraguaçu c. São Francisco do Paraguaçu Boqueirão d. Connecting Land and Culture e. The Treasures of the Mata Atlântica f. Living through the Manguezal g. The Time Dona Andira Spent the Night in the Mangue h. Other forms of Labor in São Francisco do Paraguaçu VI. How Does a Rural, Black Community Become a Legally Recognized Quilombo? …………………………………………………………………………………………….128 a. Step One: Cultural Recognition iii b. Step Two: The Long Road to Land Ownership with the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform c. Step Two Continued: The Never Ending RTID VII. (Re)membering the Quilombo: Waiting for Rights in São Francisco …………………………………………………………………………………………….152 a. Memories, Stories, and Denunciations b. “Justice of the Land”: Violence, Fear, and Anger in São Francisco do Paraguaçu VIII. Navigating the Politics of Recognition: Non-Governmental Organizations as Bridges for the Acquisition of Rights ……………………………….……………………………………………………………173 a. Empowering and Shaping Culture: Koinonia’s Observatório Quilombola b. “Quilombolas Sim!”: Being Black and Quilombola in Bahia c. Empowerment and Equals Rights d. “You Got to Fight for Your Rights” IX. Conclusion: The Politics of Recognition and (Re)membering: Embodying the Impossible Quilombo Subject …………………………………………………………………………………………….190 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………..…197 iv List of Government Organizations FCP Fundação Cultural Palmares: Palmares Cultural Foundation INCRA Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agraria: National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform SEPPIR Secretaria Especial de Politicas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial: Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality SEPROMI Secretaria de Promoção da Igualdade do Estado da Bahia: Office for the Promotion of Equality Non-Governmental Organizations CPP Comissão Pastoral de Pescadores: Pastoral Commission of Fishermen in Bahia AATR Associação de Advogados de Trabalhadores Rurais: Association of Lawyers for Rural Workers Koinonia Observatório Quilombola (Quilombo Observatory): Koinonia’s Quilombo Observatory is both a “watch-dog” program and a series of civic empowerment workshops for quilombos. Currently, the Observatory is working in more than fifty quilombos throughout Rio de Janeiro and Bahia to teach the residents about the bureaucratic steps to becoming a quilombo: learning their quilombo history, how to obtain their certification and land title, and how to teach others about quilombo culture. University-based Research GeografAR: UFBA research group initiated in 1996 working on the mapping of different living situations and communities in the rural areas of Bahia, including assentamentos, quilombos, and land occupations (the Landless Movement). Other Acronyms ABA Associação Brasileira de Antropologia: Brazilian Anthropological Association CPI-SP Comissão Pró-Índio São Paulo v Acknowledgments This dissertation would not exist without the time, dedication, and interest of many people in different parts of the world. There are so many people to whom I am grateful and I fear that these few pages will not do them justice. Never the less, I will try. I know that a dissertation is intended to complete one’s graduate education and initiate one into the rigors of primary fieldwork. Certainly, this work was successful in that regard, but it brought other gifts. I fell in love with Brazil and, in time, I fell in love with the quilombolas with whom I interacted. I am especially grateful for the quilombolas of São Francisco do Paraguaçu for allowing me to enter their homes and participate in their lives for several months. With all of the conflict and violence that these quilombolas have faced since they began the recognition process, I am privileged to have been able to get to know them. I thank Crispim and his family for allowing me to stay in their home and for making sure I was always safe and well fed. Furthermore, I thank Crispim and Sumido for helping me organize community meetings and Marcela for treating me like a friend and helping me navigate the community. I thank all of the quilombolas, named and unnamed, who were patient with my clumsiness and ignorance of a lot of things, for helping me do the research for this dissertation and for believing in my honest intentions. My respect for their incredible hard work, resilience, bravery, and
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