The Emergence of "Remnants": Notes on the Dialogue between Indigenous Groups and Quilombo People

Reviews current ethnographic literature on displaced populations in South America & Africa to explore the emerging concept of "ethnic remnants" in Brazilian legal code, focusing on communities who link themselves ethnically to the indigenous people of the Quilombo region near Sao Paulo. Theoretical & practical limits of the legal concept of ethnic remnants are discussed in terms of the land rights of the Quilombos & recent changes in the Brazilian constitution. Analyzed are the contemporary notion of the malleable ethnic identity; the current polarization of race & ethnicity in the social sciences; & the relationship among scientific production, judicial action, & public policy. The Quilombo situation challenges the conceptual separation of race & ethnicity & illuminates the role that the notion of ethnic remnants may play in this polarization. 63