Affective cosmopolitcs: An approach to the political thought of Ailton Krenak

Abstract

During the last decades, Latin American indigenous thought has gained relevance in different aspects, especially by questioning questioning society’s structural colonialism and raising critical readings in the face of the current climate crisis. In this context, the reflections of philosopher Ailton Krenak have stood out as an expression that condenses the diversity of Amerindian worlds, especially in Brazil. In this article, we investigate a key concept of his thought: affective alliances, an idea focused on radical alterity that redefines the political from a relational perspective, including bonds beyond the human. To approach the study of affective alliances, we propose a journey through three moments: the first is related to Ailton Krenak’s political trajectory from the end of the dictatorship to the Brazilian redemocratization process; from that experience, we review the turning point that led led to questioning alliances; finally, we explore the meanings of affectivity in its cosmopolitical dimension. To develop this essay, we have used interviews, writings, and other documents of Krenak from 1980 to date, through which we concatenate the history of the peoples of the forest, their reflections, and the Afro-indigenous meeting points.