Guarani, city and institutions: an ethnography of urban and institutional experience of the Guarani people in Maringá

Abstract

With this research project is expected to conduct an ethnography of the experience of Guarani people in the urban context and in institutions normalized by state knowledge in the city of Maringá, Paraná. Although there are no villages or Indigenous Lands in the areas of the municipality, the city has a constant and significant presence of indigenous people who are mobilized by different reasons such as study, wage labor, sale of crafts, among others. These indigenous people come from different localities of the state of Paraná and the State University of Maringá (UEM) and the Indigenist Association (Assindi) of Maringá - respectively, a state higher education institution and a non-governmental organization - are their referencial meeting points in the city. There is a noticeable presence of Guarani subjects linked to these two institutions and the purpose of this research is to think about what mobilizes them to the city, how they conceptualize and mean the city and the institutions mentioned here and how they deal, articulate and organize Guarani knowledge front of the institutional logic, permeated by mechanisms and knowledge of state bureaucracy. (AU)