Indigenous people at university: a post-colonial reading

Abstract

Affirmative action (AA) is often conceptualized as a strategic mechanism when both racial tension and socio-economic inequality exist. In order to counter the effects of a colonial history of discrimination and disadvantage that has left huge silences and deformations in the historical narratives about indigenous people and their knowledge, philosophies, bodies and cultures, affirmative action is necessary. A post-colonial reading of affirmative action policies in Brazilian universities focused on indigenous people provided the basis for our analysis. We argue that AA policies have a potential force to produce epistemological disruptions in university contexts.