Forms of care and movement: ethnographic experiences among Indigenous, Quilombola communities and small scale, family-based women farmers

Abstract

Based on ethnographic studies that were carried out in different contexts - with Indigenous (Pankararu) tribes in the states of São Paulo and Pernambuco, with Afro-descendant groups (quilombolas) in Alcântara in the state of Maranhão, and with small scale, family-based female farmers in the eastern part of Minas Gerais - we propose that “forms of caring” are part of a relationship ethics that involves tangible beings -men, women, plants, and the land - and intangible beings, that are part of the “divine,” supreme realm of human existence. We also explore the possibility of the existence of care practices linked to “movements” that take place with varying intensities and rhythms. Within the contexts of our respective ethnographic fields, the forms of caring, as the organizing axis of social relations, are carried out by women, although they are not perceived as intrinsically being tied to “women’s nature” and are also understood in their affective and disruptive dimensions. By bringing up the relationship between “movement and care,” we aim to contribute with a new perspective to the debates that have been held on these topics.