The everyday life in quilombola territories in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil: from isolation to multiple (re)existences

Abstract

This article aims to problematize elements that characterize the everyday life of quilombola territories located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Brazilian Midwest. In summary, we start from the perspective that quilombola communities represent significantly stigmatized spaces, in which the subjects who reside in them are victims of manifestations of racism and prejudice, in such a way that the State apparatus is unable to undertake strategies and public policies that support quilombola communities and the people who live in them. As a methodological subterfuge, this research used a qualitative and critical approach, in which interviews and participant observation processes were carried out in seven quilombola communities located in different municipalities in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. We noticed that quilombola territories are permeated by a very dual daily life: on the one hand, there is a reality of isolation and precariousness in life; on the other hand, there is a context of optimism by the quilombola communities, who undertake empowerment tactics, trying to value the history and culture of the territory, in addition to the desire to develop activities that make communities more dynamic. Without intending to exhaust the theme, this article ends by calling for quilombola communities to be considered potential and viable spaces for the manifestation of forms of life and existence that break with the homogenizing and Eurocentric logic.

Keywords
quilombola communities; territory; ethnic-racial studies; racism