Migrant Women in sothern Brazil and their process of empowerment

Abstract

This paper analyses the empowerment process of female leaders of two communities on the outskirts of Florianópolis, Brazil, from the perspectives of gender, class and ethnics. Fourteen leaders were interviewed through the so called biographical method, which allowed for the reconstruction of the structural and sociological history of a group of people originating from the miscigenation process of white and Indian (the “caboclos”), who formerly lived in the multiracial environment as provisional and unauthorized land users (“posseiros”) and who were later deprived of the properties, having, as a consequence to migrate to the urban area. When arriving in the city, such families find, in the solidarity of social webs (neighborhood, family bonds and ONGS – Non- Governmental Organizations), the necessary environment for their acculturation, a process which is not devoid of identity conflicts.