Challenges of Institutional Recognition of Collective Use Territories. The Case of a Quilombola Community in the Brazilian Amazon (Jarauacá, Oriximiná – Pará)

Abstract

"This paper aims to lead a discussion about the relationships between local common-pool resources systems and broader institutional environment, basing on Ostrom’s theory of commons and focusing on the challenges of the institutional recognition of Quilombola communities. They are Brazilian communities of descendants of African slaves, which obtained a specific status, and especially the collective property of their lands. By means of a study case, we will try to understand how and why State and local systems build ambiguous but necessary linkages in a context of economic pressures."