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About forty years ago, in North Carolina, the study that conceptualised what is now known as environmental racism was published. Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States [1][1] United Church of Christ. Commission for Racial Justice. (1987). Toxic wastes and race in the United States: A national report on the racial and socio-economic characteristics of communities with hazardous waste sites. New York: United Church of Christ. was a report by Dr Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who complained to authorities that toxic waste facilities in cities were strategically located in poor and racialised neighbourhoods. The findings presented led to the conclusion that citizens of African descent and Latin Americans were disproportionately more exposed to chemical waste and health problems. The report not only exposed environmental injustice but also called on affected communities to organise and become actively involved in shaping solutions.

As regrettable as it may be, the future continues to replicate the past, and we are not experiencing anything new. As a matter of fact, race-based environmental injustices have only increased in recent years. Today, environmental racism is also visible in the effects of ecological catastrophes stemming from the Anthropocene. And it is particular communities that suffer unjustly from their devastating effects.

Paradoxically, in Brazil, these communities are not only the most vulnerable to ecological calamities but also suffer the most from the lack of public policies that guarantee the maintenance and protection of their livelihoods. Moreover, their vulnerability is aggravated by their continued exclusion from citizen participation spaces, which could help secure their rights and tackle the challenges associated with climate change.

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It goes without saying that these communities are the ones who understand their own problems best and who best preserve a relationship of intimacy, ancestry and respect for the land. This includes not only Brazil’s indigenous populations but also Brazil’s rural communities of African descent, the so-called quilombos. In recent years, officially recognised and demarcated quilombos have become the main preservation shield of the Legal Amazon [2][2] Pereira, J. (2023). ‘Quilombolas formam escudos de preservação da floresta na Amazônia Legal’ [The Quilombola form shields of forest preservation in the Legal Amazon]. InfoAmazonia, recovered from: Quilombolas formam escudos de proteção.. However, they also experience great suffering out of the many difficulties delimiting their lands pose and the unrelenting advance of agribusiness.

The Yanomami communities find themselves in a similar predicament. These indigenous groups have maintained a cooperative relationship with nature, for example, in terms of their plantation model—which, after one or two years of harvesting, goes into a period of forest restoration. Yanomami coivara agriculture involves the farming a given piece of land and its subsequent abandonment, and it does not result in any ecological degradation of the forest habitat [3][3] Albert, B. (1992). URIHI: Terra, economia e saúde Yanomami [URIHI: Land, economy and health of the Yanomami]. Brasilia: University of Brasilia..

Convergences and Controversies

It is possible to assert that the intersection between indigenous peoples and Quilombola communities is not only their diversity and their extraordinary ability to preserve their ecosystems but, above all, the way in which they are subjected to environmental racism. This takes shape in the difficulties of access to public and private policies, making it challenging to sustain their way of life; in the creation of wildlife parks and reserves, which often results in their forced displacement; in the development of urban infrastructure and roads, which spread illnesses; and in mining operations, which make them more vulnerable in terms of physical and sexual safety [4][4] Bedinelli, T. (2022). ‘‘Why do the miners screw the vaginas of Yanomami women?’’. Sumaúma, Available here: https://sumauma.com/en/por-que-os-garimpeiros-comem-as-vaginas-das-mulheres-yanomami/. Above all, the difficulties in demarcating their lands, as well as the constant pollution of rivers and the lack of access to water.

Much of this activity is motivated by what David Kopenawa, shaman and spokesperson for the Yanomami communities, calls “passion for merchandise” [5][5] Kopenawa, D., & Albert, B. (2013). The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman. Madrid: Capitán Swing.. This is what, according to Western concepts, would be the equivalent of the well-known Anthropocene: “White men, not content with the damage they have done to their own lands [6][6] Ídem, Pg. 408., where there is hardly any forest left and where they can no longer drink the water from their rivers, now want to do the same to ours”. The sheer depth of this speech reinforces existing claims pointing at the Anthropocene and racism as intertwined phenomena with deep roots in colonialism [7][7] Pulido, L. (2018). Racism and the Anthropocene. En G. Mitman, M. Armiero & R. Emmett (Ed.), Future Remains: A Cabinet of Curiosities for the Anthropocene. Chicago: University of Chicago Press..

We find ourselves in an age of collapse triggered by recent human activities, which have pushed the planet to the brink of a climate breakdown beyond repair [8][8] Heiber, R. Geopolitics and the Generative Limits of the Ungovernable/. Metapolis V3, N2. Available here: https://metapolis.net/project/geopolitics-and-the-generative-limits-of-the-ungovernable/. In search of the beginning of the end, some researchers have come to understand that the Anthropocene, this one-way journey in which we travel, originated approximately five hundred years ago. Coincidentally, such a timeline takes us back to the period that saw the rise of colonial operations, underpinned by the genocide of Indigenous communities, the expropriation of their lands and the international trafficking of African peoples. In other words, the same historical period in which racism was consolidated.

Subjugation, dispossession and territorial plundering, based on the notion of an ethnic “Other” and upheld by moral philosophical trends such as the Kantian tradition, provided the rationale for the colonialist enterprise. In this sense, as the Indigenous philosopher A. Krenak [9][9] Krenak, A. (2019). Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo [Ideas to Postpone the End of the World]. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras. rightly points out, the notion that white peoples could go out and colonise the rest of the world—based on the premise that there was an enlightened humanity that had to bring their ‘awesome light’ to their shadowed peers—articulated strategies that, as we now know, are just sustainable for life on earth. Since then, the interplay between racism and capitalism has exacerbated environmental issues, with processes such as industrialisation and urbanisation (often racialised) catalysing environmental degradation.

Such an approach is a mistake comparable to the universalisation of responsibilities for climate change, which, based on the imposition of a homogenous idea of humanity, denies the plurality of ways of life, existence and habits [11][11] Ibidem.. Many hegemonic discourses like that perpetuate the notion that repairing environmental damage is a universal responsibility, ignoring historical inequalities and global power disparities. This is the reason why we are seeing gradual efforts to include racialised people in international forums such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP), although, in cases such as Brazil’s, this progress has not yet found sufficient footing when it comes to national debates.

In this regard, the establishment of mutual work arrangements or participatory budget guidelines is often hampered by a lack of information on the actors involved. For example, the Brazilian government’s 2023 Multiannual Participatory Plan [12][12] Brazil, Informe del Plan Plurianual Participativo [Report of the Multiannual Participatory Plan], 2023. report does not provide details on ethnic backgrounds or other information on who participated in the initiative. Another case in point is the hearings organised by the Supreme Court for defining the temporary demarcation of Indigenous territories: the absence of Indigenous representation at the last conciliation hearing meant, according to the records issued by the court itself, that no agreement could be reached even on just scheduling the meetings.

Translating Deliberation into Action

Given the controversies that plague the debate on this model of environmental democracy, it is evident that the prevailing paradigm is one of exclusion. It is therefore necessary to consider deliberative mechanisms, as advocated by the current theory of deliberative democracy, as a possible way to broaden citizen participation. If we can decolonise—and draw inspiration from—the principles of the recent Global Bauhaus, which seeks to address complex problems in collaborative and contextualised ways, we might consider deliberation as an alternative for settling these disputes.

The core of this debate lies in what Banerjee [13][13] Banerjee, S.B. (2022). ‘Decolonizing Deliberative Democracy: Perspectives from Below’. J Bus Ethics. defines as ‘enabling and imagining counter-hegemonic alternatives for a bottom-up democratisation of democracy’. In this sense, the deliberative culture of marginalised communities is already shaping this democratisation. Indigenous deliberative culture and Quilombola oral practices, for example, are already redistributing resources and discussing better living conditions in their territories, and it is women who are the main protagonists of this unrestricted public sphere.

Yanomami women have deliberated on their territorial management plans in annual meetings since 2008. At the same time, Quilombola women use ancestral oral traditions to protect their territories and keep their customs alive since the creation of the first villages. Both practices reveal a collective commitment to finding solutions to the problems that affect these communities and demonstrate how the institutional apparatus often does not allow for novel forms of invention, creation, existence and freedom [14][14] Krenak, A. (2019). Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo [Ideas to Postpone the End of the World]. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras..

However, when analysing how the demands of these communities are brought to the executive branch, we observe the difficulty of accessing effective conversations, the continuous dismissal of their discourse, and the lack of recognition of their expertise. The Yanomami and Quilombola communities have to use letters [15][15] Poderes Pretos. (2023). ‘Em tom de socorro, mãe e filha denunciam em carta a Lula violação de direitos no Quilombo Rio dos Macacos’ [Calling for Help, a Mother & Daughter Denounce the Violation of Rights in the Quilombo Rio dos Macacos in a Letter to Lula]. Midia Ninja. Available here: https://midianinja.org/em-tom-de-socorro-mae-e-filha-denunciam-em-carta-a-lula-violacoes-de-direitos-no-quilombo-rio-dos-macacos/[16][16] Araújo, F. (2023). ‘XIV Encontro de Mulheres Yanomami discute crise na saúde: “grávidas bebem água com doença”’ [The 14 Yanomami Women Meetup Adresses Health Crisis: “Pregnant Women Are Drinking Disease-ridden Water”]. Instituto Socioambiental. Available here: https://www.socioambiental.org/noticias-socioambientais/xiv-encontro-de-mulheres-yanomami-discute-crise-na-saude-gravidas-bebem to communicate with the government, demonstrating the state’s lack of interest in building bridges between them. This also illustrates ‘the absence’ that characterises our times, according to Krenak. An absence of a sense of social coexistence and a sense of life’s own experience constantly leads to intolerance. It politically segregates those who are still able to experience the pleasure of being in tune with the earth [17][17] Krenak, A. (2019). Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo [Ideas to Postpone the End of the World]. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras..

As a consequence of this isolation, the implementation of adequate public policies aimed at these groups, as well as approaches to ecological restoration, are insufficient to prevent damage and ongoing environmental racism. This is because many of these initiatives have not been built authentically on the knowledge and participation of these communities. In no way does this mean projecting a neo-colonialist stance that exploits Indigenous resources and knowledge, nor does it mean that the Quilombola communities, who cultivate their values day by day, should be the ones to determine a solution to this whole cycle of problems caused by an ideal of humanity that does not match their principles. On the contrary, it is about defending the need for alternative ways of bridging local decisions through mutual agreements devised by the communities themselves.

Studies have shown that existing institutional mechanisms for citizen participation often replicate social inequalities. Not all communities and groups have the financial means and time to actively participate in deliberative processes that take place in the public sphere according to Rawlsian parameters: embedded within the state and its organisations, the legal sphere and legal institutions [18][18] Benhabib, S. (2006). The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era. Buenos Aires: Katz Editores., as well as Western standards of interpretation.

It is, therefore, appropriate to consider that the democratic innovations re-signified—if not created—by Indigenous and Quilombola communities, although often silenced, represent a way of conducting politics that can significantly contribute to building public policy debates and addressing the causes of environmental emergencies. As mentioned above, it is not a matter of dealing with the consequences but of tackling the causes through the capacities and worldviews these communities can offer, transforming what we understand development.

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If deliberation acts as an option-forming [19][19] Ibidem. process, then by combining culture, otherness and political practices, the deliberative style adopted by these collectives can not only energise the public scene but make it truly democratic. Since Brazil is a culturally diverse country, it makes no sense for our public debate to follow models from the Global North on what it means to do politics. Politically open spaces and new forms of participation can emphasise and teach us to be what Krenak calls “collective persons” [20][20] Krenak, A. (2019). Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo [Ideas to Postpone the End of the World]. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.. According to the philosopher, people can be like cells that transmit their worldviews over time.

New Democratic Narratives

Fixing democracy means building democracies that work [21][21] Shetty, S., & Waraich, O. (2023). Why Democracies Must Deliver. Metapolis V4, N1. Available here: https://metapolis.net/project/why-democracies-must-deliver/. Before sceptics criticise these arguments as utopian and consider talk of deliberative democracy based on Indigenous or Quilombola principles unrealistic, they should consider the example of the Indian gram sabhas [22][22] Rao, V., & Sanyal, P. (2010). Dignity through Discourse: Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies. ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.. These initiatives are constitutionally guaranteed deliberative assemblies that offer local communities a space within their own villages to exercise their voice and agency.

Binding and strengthening the deliberative practices of these communities so that they can express their views and experiences first-hand and bring their different racial, ecological and political perspectives to the table will provide more realistic and effective responses to environmental problems that are also social problems. If Indigenous and Quilombola communities have been adopting their own deliberative mechanisms and seeking their own solutions for centuries, it is precisely because they suffer directly from the effects of decisions made by others. Until we recount and build Latin American democracy around the basis of ethnic and cultural diversity, we will not break out of this vicious cycle of ineffective proposals for issues that we do not actually understand.

The question remains open: who is afraid that the Indigenous and Quilombola peoples of Brazil will be able to make their own decisions? Who would fear the sovereignty of these communities?

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