Catarina Morawska

This engaged research project, to be undertaken alongside the Coletivo Quilombo Mãe Biu, aims to describe the experiences of aquilombamento in two territories, Peixinhos, in Olinda, and Várzea, in Recife, in order to address questions that are relevant to both anthropology and the black movement in Brazil. Drawing attention to the renewed process of aquilombamento in the periferias, understood as the production of an existential and physical territory that marks black resistance (Nascimento, 2022), will enable the researchers to engage in a collective reflection on the potential of black thinkers to promote the aquilombamento anthropological knowledge by creating an instance of encounter, where the tradition of popular educators in Pernambuco, inspired by Paulo Freire, meets black radical thought and anthropological theory. In other words, bringing black thinkers who are active in their territories into dialogue with current debates on experimentation in the field anthropology allows for an exploration of anthropological reflection and writing as instances of care, protection and resistance. By circulating academic articles, policy documents and videos around the notion of aquilombamento, the research project hopes to impact both anti-racist policies in Brazil, and current academic debates on epistemic racism and anthropological knowledge.