Indigenous Land Rights: a contribution of the critical theory

Abstract

After centuries of assimilationist policy, it has been recognized to the indigenous peoples - nationally and internationally - the right to be different due to demands that emerge on the public scene in the late twentieth century. The effectiveness of indigenous land rights today is no longer confined to a place for survival, but also includes cultural and symbolic aspects, according to the new paradigm adopted by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988. This article, which is the initial part of a major research, is based on the hypothesis that despite the change from the paradigm of assimilationism to the paradigm of difference, indigenous land rights are still thought by legal experts from an evolutionary basis Institute, which requires a deeper discussion from the critical theory´s point of view. In this way, we will set the indigenous right next to other cultural demands that also claim a change of individualistic and Eurocentric´s right. Further, we will present the Indigenato Institute to identify its colonial perspective. At the end, we will discuss the construction of human rights critical theory and the feminist critique to the theory of justice to set bases for a new perspective on indigenous territorial rights, in a way to respect otherness and the dynamism of different cultures.