GundxChange: Nature Conservation as a way of life near the Saint Francis River in Brazil: the lives of humans and more-than-human beings in dialogue within traditional communities

Guilherme Dantas Nogueira, Coordinator of the Public Policies in Brazil - Certificate on Afro-Latin American Studies - ALARI Visiting Research Associate
February 7, 2025 from 12-1 p.m.
Farrell Hall, room 006

Guilherme will present stories about subalternized people, beings, and ecosystem scenarios from the Brazilian past, brought together by the waters of the Velho Chico (Saint Francis River), whose vital energy has coexisted with resource exploitation since colonial times. These stories provide meaning to traditional communities’ current struggles for sustainability of natural resources and ecological well-being, as well as the projection of future horizons beyond this pattern of human and environmental degradation. The talk will value and point to alternative references to historiography and official national geography and will touch on Latin American social theory, coloniality, neoliberalism, the extermination of biodiversity, and discrimination based on class, race, gender, and other factors. 

Guilherme is a Brazilian Social Scientist focused on anti-racism and decolonial thought. His research covers Afro-Brazilian religions, especially their sociability and women’s leadership. It also examines their relations with Nation-States in Latin America, all intersected by race and gender issues. He advocates for social and historical justice by narrating the stories of marginalized communities. Guilherme was a post-doctoral researcher at the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard University (ALARI) and at the Sociology Department at the University of Brasilia (UnB). He holds a PhD in Sociology and a Master's in Social Sciences from UnB. Currently, he is a Visiting Research Associate at ALARI, Executive Director and a founding member of the Calundu Institute, and Chief Editor of the academic journal Revista Calundu.