Charlas con Café: Scholarly 'Ancestralidade': Possibilities and Challenges of a Rising Concept

The Center for Latin American Studies presents its spring 2024 "Charlas con Café" series, a weekly space for lectures from a wide variety of experts to discuss topics relevant to the Latin American region. This week's lecture is "Scholarly 'Ancestralidade': Possibilities and Challenges of a Rising Concept."

In the past 20 years, Brazil has witnessed an increasing centrality of race and racism as public concerns in media, public policies and academia. This shift is primarily driven by a profound change in the role of social movements and community strengthening, which seek representation and reparation. This trend has incorporated the use of the term "ancestralidade" to unveil a previously obscured historical background, contributing to the definition of Blackness and the understanding of what it means to be Black in Brazil. Additionally, it serves as a foundation for widespread community access to belonging. Ancestralidade has become a commonplace term not only in everyday life but also in academic research. This presentation will specifically address the popularization of the concept "ancestralidade" within Brazilian academic discourse.