Criminalization, marginalization, and symbolic confinement

indigenous peoples and the national imagination

Abstract

In this article, I aim to reflect on the place occupied by Indigenous peoples in the national imaginary as a determining factor in their criminalization and marginalization, interfering with legal actions, waves of violence, and the general perception of the population and legal professionals regarding Indigenous peoples. Derived from regimes of oblivion and the expulsion of memory and collective identity, this imaginary ultimately relegates Indigenous peoples to symbolic confinement – beyond the territorial confinement in which many peoples already live – and places them between heaven and hell, with little room for interaction with the human subjects who truly inhabit this land. To this end, I draw on semiotic, sociological, and anthropological analyses of numerous episodes, including court cases, specialized reports, journalistic articles, cultural and artistic manifestations, and other documents. I engage with theorists of Law and Human Sciences in a bibliographical review that does not aim to exhaust the subject, but rather to provoke a convergence of ideas and provide support for further research. In conclusion, I make a critical connection between this widespread imagery, the criminalization of leaders, and the actions of recent governments that have gone against Indigenous and environmental rights enshrined in the 1988 Federal Constitution.