Brazil has over 900,000 indigenous people, most of whom live in the Amazon. After centuries of persecution, they were given extensive rights under a new Constitution in the 1980s, including the right to claim and win back their traditional lands. Since then, hundreds of indigenous lands have been demarcated and protected by the Brazilian government. But in the last few years, those lands have come under attack by landowners, ranchers, loggers, and farmers who want access to the resources inside these indigenous lands. And since Jair Bolsonaro became president, the number of invasions into indigenous lands has skyrocketed.
How does the deforestation of the Amazon reproduce the logic of colonization in the Americas? What industries are causing the most damage?
What have been some of the most successful policies in stopping deforestation in the Amazon?
What type of sustainable economic practices were presented in the VOX video?
How do the global consumption of rubber, meat, and soy promote deforestation? Do you think that other nations beyond Brazil hold responsibility for the deforestation of the Amazon? How do you think other nations can help?
How does the case of activist Chico Mendes permit the creation of protected zones and sustainable economic practices? Do
How do the direct action techniques presented resemble those of indigenous people in other areas of Brazil?
How did the modernization project in Brazil create the first wave of deforestation?
What has been the role of right-wing governments in the taking of indigenous/forest lands? To what extent indigenous cultures and forest ecosystems are indivisible?
Contrast the perspectives on land hold by Brazil’s agro-oligarchy and indigenous groups in the Amazon.
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