ABSTRACT
By considering requests for reparations as requests for recognition, one can think of government heritage policies as spheres that articulate cultural and legal-political recognition and that mobilize dynamics that link the State, civil society and heritage-holding communities. The constitution of an Afro-Brazilian heritage in the 1980s, initially through the safeguarding of Serra da Barriga as a heritage site - considered the site of Quilombo dos Palmares in the 17th century - was crucial for the incorporation of the quilombo category into Brazil’s 1988 Federal Constitution, assigning reparations with cultural and legal-political recognition. Subsequently, from the creation of the category “quilombo remnant community” at constitutional level and the expansion of the instruments used by the State to identify and recognize cultural heritage, heritage policies and narratives were able to recognize the historical disrespect for slavery and the subordinate position of people of African descent in Brazilian society. Furthermore, the recognition of specific forms of social and cultural organization also became possible, in this case, those that generate the particular designation “quilombola”.
KEYWORDS:
Quilombo; Heritage policies; Social recognition; Reparation