The landscape in the construction of Good Living: The Nhandereko in Sao Paulo state capital

Abstract

This article is structured based on an ongoing master's research and seeks to articulate the theoretical-practical fields of the concept of Good Living, which is understood as a decolonial and landscape studies alternative, and Landscape, which is comprehended as as the totality of the nature-culture constituted in the reproduction of worlds. The article focuses on the Guarani resumption in the conquest by the Guarani Mbya people of their ancestral territory, the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Land (TITP in the Portuguese acronym), in the extreme south of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, and analyzes the transformations of the landscape both in its physical and symbolic aspects. The methodology involved a theoretical review of the decolonial (Quijano), ontological (Latour, Escobar, and Blaser), and Good Living (Hidalgo-Capitán, Cubillo-Guevara, Gudynas, Mamani) debates to explore their relationships with the field of Landscape (Santos, Nogué and Ingold) and to territorialize it in the TITP by dealing with territorial planning (APA Capivari-Monos), indigenous studies (Pierri, Krenak), and through empirical exercise, in addition to dialogue with local leaders from the Tekoa Kalipety indigenous land. The preliminary results of the research highlight the contribution of Landscape studies in the construction of Good Living through the political and identity strengthening of indigenous peoples based on key elements (autonomy, communality, relationality, and sustainability) identified in the concept of Nhandereko, or Good Living in the Guarani language. Considering that agriculture reflects the ontological and epistemological values of the Guarani way of life, the article calls for the mobilization of the landscape as a tool for social use.