Creating a Politics of Place

Guiomar and I lounge on one of Itacaré’s idyllic beaches, a small cove of white sand surrounded by a half-moon of palm trees. She looks around at the lifeguards playing soccer with makeshift goals of sticks, at the children scouring tide pools for sea creatures, at the capoeiristas practicing agile moves on the sand, and observes, chuckling, “The only ones who appreciate this place more than the tourists are the nativos!” When meeting someone in Southern Bahia, one of the first things you might hear is “Sou nativo,” I’m a native, a term that simply signifies “I’m of this place,