By specifically analyzing how residents of quilombos are affected by the new National Policy for Technical and Rural Extension Assistance (Pnater), this article examines the relation of power between public policies and ethnic identities. It discusses how the reformulated concept of development influences government activity in rural contexts and the adoption of compensatory actions for excluded portions of the population. It briefly presents the social, legal and conceptual trajectory of the quilombos, localizing the dynamics of power in the construction of quilombola identity, a project in constant re-elaboration by Brazilian society.
rural extension; public policy; quilombo; ethnicity; identity