« What do the Indians want? » Socio-spatial configurations, political issues and ontological debates in Amazonia. – AMAZ

The three previous points should be addressed using two main research approaches.
(a) Issue of conflict: The first involves a study of socio-environmental conflict as a situation for reviewing action and political discourse. The Amazonia is indeed at the heart of the most important current issues (such as the preservation of the biodiversity and the reduction of global warming). On the other hand, it must now contend with the extraction of oil and mineral resources, as well as hydroelectric dam projects which endanger its ecological wealth and diversity. Moreover, all of these territories are occupied by Native American populations which have become political actors with regard to multilateral policy.
(b) Regional studies: The second approach focuses on a comparative study of the regional multi-ethnic collectives. Given the unprecedented development of the Amazonian anthropology over recent decades and the growing number of monographic studies, it is important to encourage comparative research on the various ethnic groups of the societies (Amerindian or otherwise) located in the same Amazonian area.

The political anthropology research of Amerindian peoples conducted so far, not only in the Amazon region but throughout the continent in general, reproduces ancient methodological divisions that must now be overcome if we are to understand the complexity of political expression in contexts of cultural diversity. Indeed, this research tends either towards a political sociology of the contemporary dynamics of Indian political movements or towards an anthropology of traditional forms of political representation. This project is innovative and groundbreaking because it seeks to integrate the two classical approaches into a single analytical approach, thus opening up a new disciplinary field. It thus makes use of a considerable theoretical and empirical mass that the ethnology of the region accumulates in dozens of monographs aimed at deepening the meaning of the current dynamics of indigenous political movements. This approach is relevant not only to understanding the Amazon region, but also to addressing the global phenomenon of the coexistence of regimes of political and legal legitimacy. This implies several decompartmentalization: this research is based on a dialogical relationship with disciplines recently attracted by the global rise of regional issues; this project is not only interested in the accumulation of descriptions of particular groups, but also in regional contexts and their comparison; it is not limited to the limits of States and is deployed on border territories. Finally, this approach opens up a new dynamic of comparative Amazon-Coast research, after three decades marked by the rise of a comparative anthropology of the American Highlands and Lowlands.

The Amerindian societies of the Amazon, like other indigenous populations throughout the world, are increasingly exposed to economic inequalities and cultural and racial discrimination, remaining at the margins of the integration dynamics that the states concerned often achieve without real conviction. This is partly the result of a partial understanding of the demands of the Amerindian movements, and of the ontological principles on which these demands are based. In other words, the interest in undertaking research of this nature is to understand the details of a complex social situation, providing some methodological elements to study potentially conflicting multi-ethnic social situations that are decisive for the ecological challenges that the study area represents, with regard to the sustainable management of forests and the most important freshwater resource on the planet. It is imperative that its findings on the social conditions of public policy implementation affecting indigenous peoples be able to reflect on models of conflict management and resolution, between decision-makers, stakeholders and social organizations that work on these issues on a daily basis.

6 fieldworks missions (Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana), 4 international symposia already held, 2 symposia in preparation, as well as a monthly seminar at EHESS (8 sessions, 14 speakers) and about ten publications constitute to date (01/08/19) the scientific production of the AMAZ project (see amaz.hypotheses.org/). This production will serve as the basis for a series of scientific publications currently being consolidated. Among the publications published are:
Surrallés, A., 2017, « Human rights for nonhumans? », HAU, Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 7 (3) : 211-235.
- Descola, P. 2017. « Les défis conceptuels de l’anthropocène », in G. Boeuf & al. (eds.), L’homme peut-il accepter ses limites ?, Editions Quae : 180-188.
- Erikson, P., Yvinec, C. et Nahum-Claudel, C., 2017, « Indiens sur scènes, étrangers captivés ? Mise en spectacle de la culture et secret », Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos, « Série Colloques ».
- Chaumeil, J.-P., 2017, « Leadership in Movement. Indigenous Political Participation in the Peruvian Amazon », in P. Virtanen (ed.) Creating dialogues: indigenous perceptions and changing forms of leadership in Amazonia, University press of Colorado : 279-304.
- Allard, O., 2018, « The pursuit of sorrow and the ethics of crying », in T. Robben (ed.), A companion to the anthropology of death, Wiley-Blackwell : 117-129.

For three decades now, the indigenous societies in Amazonia have been playing an increasingly active role on the political spectrum. Their organizations come are involved in national politics, and their leaders offer some of the highest representation of the state, without ever abandoning their primary role in the majority of so-called “environmental” conflicts which have shaken the region. However, their motivations and political projects remain ambiguous, full of complex rhetoric. This project aims to analyze this phenomenon, which goes beyond the regional framework to become an issue at a global level, while trying to highlight the specificities of each country in the region and the way in which they exceed the boundaries of politics. This project also aims to analyze the historical and social logic that these processes stimulate within the indigenous communities of different cultural values.

In particular, three main focal points will be addressed:

(1) What seems particularly interesting is how the Amazonian societies manage to construct political representation while simultaneously undertaking formal electoral processes (town, province, representation in Congress, etc.), and there are non-governmental activists whose orientations are sometimes radically contrary to those promoted by the Government.

(2) The manner in which each Amerindian people is involved in politics varies depending on cultural, historical, and social logic appertaining to each group. Two issues will be addressed: (2.1) The methods of exercising the different political styles emanate from the various forms of kinship and social organization, political legitimacy, and indigenous ritual practices partially understood through anthropology. (2.2) This project also seeks to reveal these styles and historical substrates which explain them, as well as the developments and disturbances produced within these societies as a result of their contemporary political participation.

(3) Politicization and the merging of modernity and tradition as expressed in the political field occur in parallel to the recent wave of urbanization of the Amazonian people. More and more indigenous people are migrating to urban centers in the Amazonian provinces, and from there they head to the major conurbations of the region. Frequent round-way trips between the cities and the forest result in the emergence of new institutional forms which must be examined.

The three previous points should be addressed using two main research approaches.

(a) Issue of conflict: The first involves a study of socio-environmental conflict as a situation for reviewing action and political discourse. The Amazonia is extremely important for the biodiversity of the planet and for reducing global warming. On the other hand, it must now contend with the extraction of oil and mineral resources, as well as hydroelectric dam projects which endanger its ecological wealth and diversity. Moreover, all of these territories are occupied by Native American populations which have become political actors with regard to multilateral policy.

(b) Regional studies: The second approach focuses on a comparative study of the regional multi-ethnic collectives. Given the unprecedented development of the Amazonian anthropology over recent decades and the growing number of monographs studies, it is important to encourage comparative research on the various ethnic groups of the societies (Amerindian or otherwise) located in the same Amazonian area.