Autonomy as a political and territorial strategy among social movements in Brazil:

Abstract

Indigenous organizations in Latin America more and more commonly develop strategies of autonomy as a form of self-determination and defense of their territories. With vast particularities both local and regional, autonomy as practiced by these groups, seeks to reorganize communities through mechanisms of territoriality and self-governance, creating horizontal systems of political decision-making and mutual support, as well as autonomous ways of socialization outside of the influence of political parties and the supervision of the State. The present article reflects on autonomy in the Brazilian context through an interview with Teia dos Povos da Bahia, founded in 2012 from the union of indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and different rural movements fighting for land and territory in the country.