Indigeneity and consciousness in Brazil: Analyzing Sousa (1587) and Mendes Jr (1912)

Abstract

This article analyzes understandings of indigeneity and legal consciousness in Brazil in the 16th, early 20th and 21st centuries. The article focuses on the often ignored work of João Mendes Junior, written in 1912, about the indigenous peoples of São Paulo and on Gabriel Soares de Sousa’s Tratado descritivo do Brasil em 1587 [A Descriptive Treatise of Brazil in 1587]. Mendes’ ideas about race, biology and indigeneity diverge considerably from hegemonic Western theories of racial purity and Social Darwinism, but his contribution has never really been acknowledged. This article argues that theories that better fit the organizing model of the free market have become more hegemonic and widespread. For this reason, social scientists should strive to bring into discussion epistemological alternatives to the hegemonic principles of capitalism, which foster exploitation, destitution and the privatization of public space.