A lecture by Ailton Krenak (philosopher, writer, and indigenous leader).
In this talk, the indigenous thinker and philosopher Ailton Krenak urges us to take seriously the value of the indigenous philosophies of the Americas when it comes to confronting the climate change crisis. The author of Ideas to Postpone the End of the World and A Vida Não Útil (Life is Not Useful), here Krenak offers a trenchant critique of the extent to which an understanding of the earth as a resource to be exploited has taken hold in the wake of globalization, as well as how the logic of consumption is enabled by the “cognitive abyss”—our inability to listen and to see what is happening to the world.
This event will be in Portuguese. Interpretation will be provided.
Cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Social Difference and the Institute of Latin American Studies.
Ailton Krenak was born in 1953 on the banks of Rio Doce in the State of Minas Gerais. When he was 9 years old he was separated from his people by force, obliged to leave his lands that had been requisitioned by the Authorities. He was educated in traditional Brazilian society, becoming a journalist, and witnessed other natives suffer the same way. His reflection and combat were born of his experiences. He founded several organisations defending indigenous rights, and had natives’ territorial rights recognised in the 1988 Constitution. From 2003 to 2010, he was special aid for indigenous affairs to the governor of Minas Gerais. In 2015, he received the Order of Cultural Merit, and the following year, an honorary doctorate from the Juiz de Fora Federal University, where he lectures on indigenous cultures. As a writer, in 2020 he has published Tomorrow is not for sale and Ideas to postpone the end of the world.