“Todo caboclo é parente”: Spatiality, History and Kinship Among the Potiguara

Abstract

This article analyzes the social organization, the production and articulation of kinship with the Potiguara social form that expresses the ideals of “living well”. These ideals reflect the possibility of “living in the village” and among relatives and demarcate the centrality of the kinship in the process of sociality. It aims to understand the spatiality and territoriality regimes through the intersection between kinship and political unraveling, the description of land uses, the occupation of space and temporality, the configuration of the village, and the dwelling patterns. The study is driven by the understanding of the history (and kinship), the political management of the relations and the realization of social life. Thus, we understand the composition and organization of families and circles of alliance and cooperation that are established in the compliance with the criteria of close kinship (or family) or residence as a significant part of the set of political forces.