The urban indigenous groups in Sao Paolo: identity, practices of citizenship, and social inclusion among the Pankararé

Abstract

Looking at indigenous contexts in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the research aims to highlight and outline the dynamics of construction and implementation of indigenous practices of citizenship, considering citizenship as an identity issue. In the specific, we will focus on Pankararé indigenous group. We will consider its internal organization, their relationships - political, social, cultural - with the environment, with the hegemonic culture and its various components2. We will analyze the indigenous group in its lands of origin, the flow of meanings, which passes through and between the community and the city. By means of an anthropological and historical approach, the research will conceptualize and critically analyze the concept of indigenous identity in urban area of Sao Paulo, starting from previous experiences in Mexico and Peru. Recognizing it as a political and relational issue, which articulates subjectivity, practices and knowledge that involve whole societies, and that calls into question concepts such as citizenship, ethnicity, sovereignty and rights. The main research questions are: in which theoretical terms anthropology may think the concept of urban indigenous groups in São Paulo, and how it is possible to describe and analyze citizenship practices in urban environment, considering it in relations with territories of origin. What is the room for identity definitions in urban indigenous movements in Brazil, and in particular, the city of São Paulo? (AU)