A floresta, o curandeiro, o juiz e o capitalista : resistência mestiça em Soledade e Sobradinho

Abstract

This thesis highlights the concept of "abnormal communities," translated from European eugenic theories to Brazilian criminal anthropology, and its prolonged use. We especially analyze the case of the bearded monks of Soledade and Sobradinho municipalities (1930-1938), which occurred among populations of different ethnic origins, based in the Alto Jacuí fields and forests region. Through "biographical" aspects of Rio Grande do Sul, this work point out the commercial interests for the natural resources of that region. Researchers' incursions into South America, facilitated by the Portuguese crown in the nineteenth century, are seen as a survey for economic exploitation. With the installation of the Republic (1889), after the legal abolition of slavery (1888), the war waged against the Canudos village in Bahia crystallized the continuity of the state intolerance model against popular organization. In the 1930s, literary and sociological interpretations established new theses for these social movements. These generous look were interrupted by the Estado Novo dictatorship (1937-1945). In the 1950s and 1960s, studies of these religious-social organizations gained momentum with the concept of the "messianic movement." Research from the 1970s included approaches such as "rustic Catholicism," Catholic missionary traditions, the Amerindian and African cosmogony matrices, and the influence of marginal Protestant and minority groups who migrated to Brazil. In Rio Grande do Sul, the intense immigration flow and the establishment of "colonies" in forest areas, especially of German and Italian origin, was marked by the persecution of the Mucker movement (1868-1874). In this context of dispute, this research examines judicial sources (1888-1940) from Soledade and Sobradinho, involving political power, gender and age oppressions, religious diversity, pointing out the resistance of the subordinates. Faced with the ideas of racial superiority, associated with the rise of Nazi-fascism, the military landowner of exploitation of cattle and yerba mate met 'mixed colonies' of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, which brought a close dispute over lands. This study presents pieces of evidence from the performance of a generation of legal operators that support the adhesion of Judiciary to the massacre of dissidents and that Getúlio Vargas governed through a police State.