Land as home: Women, life and violence in land conflicts

Abstract

This work analyses how women question experiences of violence in land conflicts in Pinhão, Paraná, Southern Brazil. Land conflicts strike at the very foundation of the livelihood of families and communities, having a direct bearing on houses, which are places that objectify the occupation of the land and where ties of belonging between subjects and territories are woven. Land is home; land and violence are therefore also constituted as problems for women and as matters that encompass gender relations. In women’s narratives, violence is appraised through ethical ways of family and community living, and emerges in the following concrete acts: killings, house fires, threats, ambushes, and evictions. These acts intrude on the enduring conviviality of everyday life and the relations that compose communities.