Anthropology of the Present Time: Coloniality of Power, Anthropological Praxis and the Recognition of Rights

The objective of this article is to develop new reflections based on ethnographic research and anthropological practices in the creation of expert reports and assessments concerning indigenous and quilombola lands within the ethnographic context of the Lower Amazon. This specifically addresses social situations investigated through fieldwork, where development projects promoted by capitalist enterprises and the modernizing state are being implemented. It’s within this social context that our practices have documented the hegemony of corporate economic forces and state actions imposed in the name of “progress,” a scenario in which traditional cultural forms have only been recognized through legal and administrative categories like indigenous peoples and quilombolas. By examining the arguments presented by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on FUNAI and INCRA, and the vote on the “Marco Temporal”, we can understand how political mechanisms are manipulated to serve interests far removed from those based on the recognition of territorial and cultural rights protected by the Brazilian state. To conclude, instead of revisiting the arguments developed in the article, we offer some comments on the clashes between opposing political actors within the institutional order of the Brazilian state.

Keywords:
Anthropological Praxis; CPI; Timeframe Thesis; Rural Bench