Frères ennemis : la participation à l’épreuve des factions en Amazonie brésilienne

Abstract

For a while and for many in the scientific community, the utilization of participatory methodologies has been considered a prerequisite for any study that requires field work and interactions with local populations. Intrinsic to it is the assumption that the study groups have the possibility to express their own opinions and continuously on the questions raised and addressed by the study. In this article we discuss some of the implications of this assumption based in our own experience among rural populations in the region of Santarem, Para State, in the Brazilian Amazon. Recently, the State launched a major territorial development project, aiming, among other goals, the regularization of land tenure of certain social groups and the access and control of natural resources. It is in this political context, and among a traditional society that is dominated by factional groups, that we started thinking and questioning the implications of the use of participatory methodologies and its assumptions.

Keywords

• democracy
• participation
• factionalism