O que é Interseccionalidade? Perfil & Opinião com Carla Akotirene

Introduction to Carla Acotirene and Her Work

Background and Achievements

• Dani Fingergood introduces Carla Acotirene, highlighting her journey from being a security guard at carnival blocks to becoming a prominent figure in gender, race, and feminism studies in Brazil.

• Acotirene is the author of "O que é Interseccionalidade?" and works as a social worker for the Municipal Health Department of Salvador.

• She provides support to victims of domestic violence and focuses her research on institutional racism and sexism within women's prisons in Bahia.

Personal Journey

• The conversation begins with an exploration of Acotirene's personal history, including her upbringing and early experiences that shaped her perspective.

• Acotirene emphasizes that discussions about black women are relevant to everyone, indicating the universal importance of these topics.

Early Life and Family Influence

Origins

• Acotirene shares details about her family background, mentioning her parents' names and their struggles due to systemic issues like colonization.

• She reflects on growing up without abundant resources but acknowledges the efforts made by her mother to provide opportunities despite challenges.

Education Path

• Born in "caixa d'água," she pursued clinical pathology before transitioning into higher education at Instituto Chivibico.

• Acotirene attributes some limitations faced by her family not to individual failure but rather to structural racism and capitalism affecting resource availability.

Influences Leading to Higher Education

Key Encounters

• A significant moment occurs when she interacts with Jorge Washington, an activist who encourages her intellectual growth after witnessing derogatory comments made about her capabilities.

• Another influential figure, Dr. Andrea Beatriz, advises Acotirene not to let others define her worth based on appearance alone.

Turning Point

• Following encouragement from both Jorge Washington and Dr. Beatriz, she decides to pursue further education despite initially believing it was unnecessary for herself.

Challenges Faced During Educational Pursuit

Initial Resistance

• In 2003, during a pre-university selection process at Steve Bico Institute, she expresses skepticism towards affirmative action policies like quotas for black students.

• Reflecting on this period now brings feelings of embarrassment; however, she recognizes it as part of many people's journeys toward understanding racial issues.

Growth Through Education

• At Steve Bico Institute, she engages with anti-racist discourse which reshapes her views significantly over time.

Political Awakening

New Perspectives

• 2004 marks a pivotal year for Acotirene as she embraces political consciousness through education at Instituto Chivibico with support from mentors who challenge societal norms regarding race and gender.

Empowerment Through Knowledge

• She discusses how gaining knowledge helped restore her self-esteem and reshape how she viewed herself as a black woman amidst societal pressures.

Journey into Social Work and Political Activism

Educational Background and Early Involvement

• The speaker enrolled in the Enem exam, achieving a score that allowed her to enter a social work program at a Catholic university.

• Participation in the Pompa Project, aimed at political training for 21 young Black leaders in Brazil, highlighted her commitment to activism.

• Collaborated with other Black women to create policies addressing racism within the university through the Macota Valdina group.

Founding NUMAR and Addressing Coloniality

• After graduating, she co-founded NUMAR (Núcleo Matilde Ribeiro), named after a prominent figure in racial equality policies.

• Critique of the service social curriculum revealed its colonial remnants and lack of representation from Black intellectual contributions.

Impact on Student Engagement and Curriculum Changes

• The establishment of NUMAR led to increased awareness among students about anti-racist and anti-sexist education necessary for serving predominantly Black populations.

• Students began advocating for changes in theoretical discussions within their curriculum, pushing back against traditional Marxist frameworks.

Current State of Social Work Education

• Today’s social work programs in Bahia incorporate racial identity and gender studies as essential components of their curricula.

• Acknowledgment that systemic issues like genocide and domestic violence disproportionately affect Black communities necessitates an informed educational approach.

Embracing Diverse Knowledge Systems

• Recognition of post-colonial, decolonial perspectives emphasizes Latin America as a knowledge-producing region rather than merely an activist space.

• Discussion on African intellectual contributions highlights the need to shift perceptions away from stereotypes towards recognizing valuable knowledge systems.

Importance of Intersectionality

• The speaker references Kimberlé Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality as crucial for understanding overlapping forms of discrimination faced by marginalized groups.

• Emphasizes that prior theoretical efforts by Black intellectuals laid groundwork for understanding diverse experiences beyond state-centric approaches.

The Importance of Black Women's Publications

Introduction to the Collection

• Djamila Ribeiro introduces herself as a political philosophy master and coordinator of the "Feminias Plurais" collection, emphasizing the significance of having Carla Cotirene contribute with her book on intersectionality.

Admiration for Carla Cotirene

• Ribeiro expresses her long-standing admiration for Cotirene's work, highlighting how she has learned significantly from her contributions over the years.

Personal Connection and Learning

• Ribeiro describes her relationship with Cotirene as one of intellectual admiration and personal learning, noting that Cotirene inspires reflection and growth.

Significance of Intersectionality

• The discussion shifts to the importance of intersectionality in feminist studies, with Ribeiro stressing its relevance in understanding diverse experiences within feminism.

Practical Examples of Intersectionality

Defining Intersectionality

• Ribeiro uses her own experience as a black philosopher to illustrate practical examples of intersectionality, emphasizing visibility issues faced by marginalized thinkers.

Creative Potential and Academia

• Cotirene reflects on how Ribeiro’s encouragement helps unlock her creative potential that was previously undervalued in academic settings.

Understanding Structural Oppression

Experiences Across Regions

• The conversation highlights how regional identities (e.g., being from Northeast Brazil) affect perceptions and authority in discussions about intersectionality.

Acknowledging Diverse Identities

• Cotirene discusses moving beyond traditional narratives that reduce black women to mere victims within oppressive structures, advocating for recognition of their multifaceted identities.

Intersections of Racism, Capitalism, and Heteropatriarchy

Ancestral Experiences

• She emphasizes that many personal struggles are intertwined with broader systems like racism and capitalism, which shape women's experiences collectively.

Misconceptions About Black Women

• The metaphor by Kimberlé Crenshaw is referenced to explain how overlapping identities can lead to unique forms of oppression that are often overlooked by both feminist and racial movements.

Failures Within Movements

Limitations in Feminist Framework

• Both feminist and black movements are critiqued for failing to address the specific needs and experiences of black women adequately due to their focus on singular identity categories.

Need for Comprehensive Approaches

• Emphasizing an analytical sensitivity towards multiple intersecting factors is crucial for developing effective support mechanisms for marginalized women.

Foundations for Effective Feminist Action

Methodological Responses

• To address these challenges effectively, there is a call for methodological responses rooted in the lived experiences and intellectual contributions from black women themselves.

Collective Empowerment

• The concept of empowerment is discussed as inherently collective rather than individualistic; true progress requires community support among women linked through shared ancestral histories.

Redefining Success Beyond Individual Achievement

Critique on Visibility Metrics

• There’s a critique against defining success based solely on individual achievements or visibility; this perspective risks marginalizing those who do not fit conventional success narratives.

True Empowerment Through Community

• The dialogue concludes with an affirmation that genuine empowerment must stem from collective efforts rather than individual accolades or recognition.

The Role of Intersectionality in Penal Institutions

Understanding Intersectionality

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in analyzing penal institutions, highlighting its role in understanding biopolitical and necropolitical control mechanisms.

Capturing Marginalized Populations

• Individuals excluded from productive relations are often imprisoned or enter health units only to face death, illustrating systemic failures.

Gendered Violence and State Control

• Citing Vilma Reis, the speaker discusses how gender categories explain violent deaths linked to New York's zero-tolerance security model.

Ongoing Oppressions

• The speaker critiques societal oppressions such as religious racism and capitalism, which manifest within the prison system as microcosms of external societal issues.

Media Representation of Black Men

• Media sensationalism portrays Black men negatively, reinforcing stereotypes that contribute to their criminalization and sentencing.

Women's Experiences in Prisons

Gendered Drug Trafficking

• Black women are coerced into drug trafficking due to patriarchal dependency, often overlooked by feminist movements focused on more mainstream forms of violence.

Expanding Definitions of Violence

• The need for a broader definition of violence is highlighted; crimes against property can lead to severe consequences for partners involved in drug-related offenses.

Family Dynamics Under Pressure

• Men facing threats may involve female relatives in drug transport to maintain power dynamics within prisons while avoiding personal victimization.

Institutional Failures and Religious Disparities

Penitentiary Ideals

• The concept of penitentiaries is tied to Christian notions of penance, affecting the treatment and rights afforded to inmates regarding religious assistance.

Inequitable Access to Religious Support

• Neopentecostal groups receive preferential treatment over practitioners from Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé, reflecting institutional biases.

Challenges Faced by Afro-Brazilian Religious Leaders

Barriers for Candomblé Practitioners

• Candomblé priests face humiliating entry procedures that deter them from providing spiritual support within prisons compared to their Christian counterparts.

Gender-Based Violence Within Prison Walls

Domestic Nature of Prisons

• Prisons function similarly to domestic spaces where gender hierarchies persist; male inmates may exert control over female inmates through violence.

Intersections of Race and Gender in Incarceration

Systemic Oppression Analysis

• Intersectionality reveals how state structures disproportionately affect Black women and non-cisgender individuals through institutional racism and sexism.

Employment Disparities Post-Incarceration

Economic Inequality for Black Women

• Outside prison walls, Black women face rejection from job opportunities that could provide economic dignity; similar patterns occur within prison labor assignments.

Practical Implications of Intersectionality

Real-world Applications

• Carla Acotirene discusses how intersectionality transcends theory into practice, influencing real changes across various social contexts beyond academia.

Historical Contextualization of Exclusion

Voices from History

• References influential thinkers like Dejamila Ribeiro and Lélia Gonzalez who articulate the historical exclusion faced by Black women as "the others" lacking recognition or respect from society.

The Importance of Black Feminism in Technology Critique

Engaging with Diverse Intellectual Traditions

• Emphasizes the need to draw from Black feminism and the intellectual contributions of Black feminists, rather than solely relying on Western perspectives.

• Discusses how gender as a category has colonial roots, often used by the U.S. to justify interventions in African territories under the guise of protecting women.

• Critiques hegemonic white feminism for perpetuating stereotypes about Black men, leading to increased incarceration rates among them.

Questioning Academic Categories

• Acknowledges a question posed by Rita Batista regarding overcoming barriers faced by marginalized groups in academia.

• Explores how scientific knowledge can bridge gaps between universities and society, advocating for more accessible academic discourse.

The Role of U.S. Influence on Global Narratives

Misrepresentation and Imperialism

• Highlights how the U.S. uses narratives around respect for differences while engaging in homonationalism that excludes non-Western identities.

• Points out that categories like interseccionalidade (intersectionality) can sometimes serve imperialist agendas rather than genuinely addressing local issues.

Intersectionality's Complexities

• Discusses how intersectionality is applied within legal frameworks like Maria da Penha but often results in racial disparities in its enforcement.

Understanding Identity Through Experience

Rethinking Difference

• Argues against viewing identities as fixed; instead, emphasizes relationality where differences are understood through interactions with others.

Critique of Western Normativity

• Critiques academic categories that prioritize white experiences over those of marginalized communities, particularly regarding gender discussions.

Ancestral Knowledge vs. Western Constructs

Alternative Family Structures

• Challenges Western notions of family dynamics by presenting ancestral practices that do not conform to nuclear family models.

Redefining Gender Roles

• Contrasts Western views of motherhood with ancestral perspectives that emphasize communal living and shared responsibilities among women.

Addressing Social Inequalities

Epistemological Independence

• Advocates for breaking away from Eurocentric epistemologies to address social inequalities effectively without reinforcing existing power structures.

Historical Context of Violence Against Women

• Notes that early specialized police departments addressing violence against women were influenced heavily by white feminist theories, which may not adequately represent diverse experiences.

Gender and Racial Intersectionality

The Fragility Perception of Women

• Johnny True's statement from 1851 highlights the societal view that women are seen as fragile and in need of assistance, contrasting with the experiences of Black women who face additional racial biases.

Racialized Gender Categories

• The discussion emphasizes how gender categories can be racialized, leading to the omission of specific oppressions faced by certain groups, particularly Black women.

Historical Employment Discrimination

• Kimberlé Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality illustrates that until the 1960s, Black individuals were not hired at General Motors. This reflects systemic discrimination where judges dismissed claims based on race when white women were employed.

Class and Gender Experiences

• The conversation reveals that while some women may experience gender discrimination, it is compounded for Black women who also face class-based barriers in employment opportunities.

Importance of Intellectual Contributions

• The vastness of these topics suggests a need for further discussions in future programs to explore the evolution and significance of these issues more deeply.

Celebrating Black Women's Literature

Recognition Since 2016

• Since 2016, there has been a concerted effort to value the intellectual contributions and literary works of Black women both nationally and internationally, with a focus on Bahia's production.

Engaging Events with Authors

• A recent event featuring Carla Cotirene showcased her book on intersectionality. It was described as powerful due to her generosity in sharing personal experiences as a Black woman from Salvador.

Community Building Through Literature

• The gathering was characterized as an "aquilombamento," emphasizing community bonding through shared literature and experiences among attendees focused on Black women's narratives.

Call to Action for Reading Diverse Voices

• There is an urgent call for everyone—regardless of race—to engage with diverse intellectual voices within literature, including authors like Zé Linda Barros and Vilma Reis.

Personal Reflections on Support Systems

Admiration for Maíra

• A deep respect is expressed towards Maíra, highlighting her role as a supportive figure during challenging times in academia, showcasing solidarity among peers.

Financial Support During Education

• Maíra provided financial assistance during university studies when facing expulsion threats due to unpaid fees, illustrating community support amidst systemic challenges in education.

Challenging Stereotypes

• Discussions around imposed stereotypes reveal societal pressures that dictate binary roles (intelligent vs. beautiful), which do not align with lived experiences where both can coexist harmoniously.

Cultural References to Feminism

• Reference to Oxum symbolizes the integration of public and private spheres without conflict; this challenges traditional feminist narratives advocating separation between home life and public engagement.

Closing Remarks

• Gratitude is expressed towards participants for their contributions; acknowledgment of ongoing learning reinforces community ties before concluding the session.