Identity, difference, and recognition: a look at the indigenous women's movements in Brazil and the agenda for the fight against gender-based violence

Abstract Based on theoretical literature on identity, difference, recognition, and social movements, this article aims to investigate how indigenous women's movements in Brazil are articulated. It also investigates the manners in which the fight against gender-based violence is debated within these movements. Initially, the research points out the difficulty within the identity recognition field for the indigenous peoples. Secondly, it shows the paradigmatic shift represented by the Federal Constitution of 1988 in the field of social and legal recognition. Finally, it highlights the importance of the indigenous women's movements to grant the agenda for identity recognition and gender violence, reporting and searching for alternative ways against the violence suffered by indigenous women. The research resorted to the literature review method, based on deductive reasoning and on the hermeneutic and the critical/dialectical approach.