Kilombos of Brazil

Abstract

As a result of the Afro-Brazilian social movement’s pressure, Brazil’s post dictatorship constitution, promulgated in 1988, included a provision granting land rights to the surviving kilombo communities that exist throughout the country. Although these communities were formed in many different ways, judicial interpretation of the constitutional provision has restricted the right to those deemed to be descended from groups that escaped or rebelled violently against enslavement. This interpretation violates the original intention of the provision and raises the issue of how to define the collective identity of Afro-Brazilian kilombo communities. Bureaucratic procedures designed to ensure proof of rebellion or escape, as well as interagency conflicts in land tenure administration, further complicate the implementation of the constitutional right. The 3rd World Conference Against Racism instigated political pressure to overcome these obstacles and interagency cooperation may herald positive changes in the future.