Violence, Gender and Limits of Sexuality: from rights consolidation to abuses and intolerence in public

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to deepen the knowledge in the fields of Anthropology and Gender Studies, through an intellectual exchange program with the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) of Columbia University, consolidating hypothesis and theories regarding the recent and significant increase, in Brazil, of the violence directly related to gender and sexuality. With such program, to be developed throughout a period of three months as a visiting scholar, it is intended to establish, therefore, the conceptual basis for empirical investigations about varied manifestations of intolerance to sexual minorities, which are expressed in a collective and public way, refuting the consolidation of the sexual rights. As an example for such manifestations, it can be highlighted the homophobia cases that takes place in the public environments as result of homoerotic affections, or the incidence of "corrective rapes" committed against many transsexuals and lesbians (many of which within institutions as schools and prison), or even the abuses against young women and men during events that have public connotation and cyberbullying . Studies regarding this expressions of violence, related to gender and sexuality, are starting to be developed in Brazil, however, in a still incipient extent. It still lacks a more sofisticaded approach in order to better understand how the violence in public environments take place, and try to comprehend what are the common aspects, or similarly articulated conditions, amongst the forms of violence that are still being studied individually (in a non-integrated way): violence against women, homophobia and transphobia.The acceptance by Prof. Claudio Lomnitz for the discussions activities about the ongoing researches related to violence and its expressions in the politics and the public spheres, in Mexican contexts and also in other Latin American localities through the dialogue with other researchers in the field (including faculty and researchers from Columbia University) , beyond intensifying the knowledge and ideas exchange, will allow to establish in the future a discussion agenda and academic cooperation, and amplify the possibilities for comparative research projects.For the three month period of work in the ILAS of Columbia University, the following activities are predicted:1.Research in the ILAS archives and in its associated study centres as the Brazilian Studies, Mexico Centre, Cuba Program e Greater Caribbean Centre, the materials from the conducted seminars and, in particular, the working papers about ongoing studies from researchers connected to the university about the thematic that relate the violence manifestations to intolerant public reactions to the achieved rights, politic actions to restrict violence;2.Follow the academic activities of Prof. Claudio Lomnitz with his students and the researchers from ILAS and Mexico Centre, in order to discuss the hypothesis of the project, developing collaboration programs between researchers from Brazil and Latin America sited at ILAS.3.Theoretical and methodological update, involving the sighted thematic, through the contributions of the contact with Prof. Claudio Lomnitz and also with Prof Richark Parker (specialist in sexuality in Latin America and, in special, Brazil), Prof. Carol Vance (pioneer in the studies about gender and sexuality) and other professors from different departments of Columbia University.