For Land and Liberty
Black Struggles in Rural Brazil

A comparative examination of black rural communities' claims to land and their connections to the broader fight against racism in Brazil.

Merle L. Bowen (Author)

9781108928953, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 June 2023

270 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.398 kg

'Scholars of Latin American studies, Africana studies, history, geogra­phy, anthropology, and agrarian studies will get an extensive overview of the regional complexities in applying a land reform program, including what was promised and what has failed to deliver.' Mary Lorena Kenny, Agricultural History

For Land and Liberty is a comparative study of the history and contemporary circumstances concerning Brazil's quilombos (African-descent rural communities) and their inhabitants, the quilombolas. The book examines the disposition of quilombola claims to land as a site of contestation over citizenship and its meanings for Afro-descendants, as well as their connections to the broader fight against racism. Contrary to the narrative that quilombola identity is a recent invention, constructed for the purpose of qualifying for opportunities made possible by the 1988 law, Bowen argues that quilombola claims are historically and locally rooted. She examines the ways in which state actors have colluded with large landholders and modernization schemes to appropriate quilombo land, and further argues that, even when granted land titles, quilombolas face challenges issuing from systemic racism. By analyzing the quilombo movement and local initiatives, this book offers fresh perspectives on the resurgence of movements, mobilization, and resistance in Brazil.

Introduction
1. History, Heritage, and Resistance
2. Ethnic Cultural Politics Trumps Black Land Rights
3. Quilombola Recognition and Criminalization of Blackness
4. Land, Labor, and Livelihoods
5. Ethnic Tourism and the Commodification of Quilombola Culture
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK], Regional & national history [HBJ], History [HB], Humanities [H]