Justice in an Unequal Relationship? Negotiations Between the Quilombo Bombas and the Upper Ribeira State Touristic Park, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, the implementation of protected areas has often caused impoverishment and injustice to forest-dwelling peoples. With the launching of the re-democratic 1988 Constitution, numerous claims for access to resources, recognition of ethnic identities, and participation in environmental decision-making have been made by traditional peoples. Using an environmental justice approach, this article analyzes the spaces for and processes of negotiation over strictly protected areas through an examination of the land claim of the Afro-Brazilian quilombola community Bombas located inside the Upper Ribeira State Touristic Park, São Paulo. The article argues that exclusionary practices and discourses were used by the Brazilian state apparatus, hampering the recognition of a quilombola identity, land rights, and access to infrastructure development. The negotiation meetings served as a forum for challenging the power imbalances, but did not open up space for meaningful participation where quilombolas' voice did significantly influence the agenda and key decisions.