Beyond confronting the myth of racial democracy - The role of afro-brazilian women scholars and activists

Examination of current scholarship mapping the social and economic exclusion of women of African descent in Brazil reveals the important role played by Afro-Brazilian women scholars and activists in redressing the paucity, until recently, of basic data and research on this topic. It also gives rise to some initial thoughts on the national and transnational dynamics of knowledge production underlying this state of affairs. The production of knowledge on the gendered dimensions of racial exclusion has been impacted by state policy, institutional practices within academia, and the fit between the myth of racial democracy and the early second wave feminist movement's ideal of sisterhood and its Marxist-influenced focus on class. The visibility brought to racism in the region by the world conference on racism held in Durban in 2001 helped facilitate large-scale projects on the life experiences of Brazilians of African descent.