the border and the construction of the “other”: conceptions from elementary school students about the indigenous peoples

In this text, we try to discuss some ideas that we consider to be relevant to the Geography in this current period and these ideas take into consideration the importance that the matters relative to the identity have acquired for the understanding of the social-spatial processes and practices. Our reflection on identity is unfolded thanks to the idea of borders that we take as a starting point for this discussion. The border here is understood as a place of otherness, a territory of invention for the other, where the individual seeks to recognize themselves within the otherness. Based on this theoretical route, we analyze how such issues are present and permeate the conceptions of elementary school students about the indigenous peoples of Dourados/MS. Based on the analysis of the activities carried out with students in Dourados/MS, we seek to reflect on borders, identity and otherness. We concluded that the students’ conceptions are constructed due to the distinction between the “I” and the “other”, i.e., the marking of the differences between indigenous and non-indigenous established by elements and parameters that permeate the systems of symbolic representation and also forms of social exclusion involving power relations.

本文旨在探讨契合当下地理学研究范畴的若干核心议题，这些议题充分考量了身份相关议题在理解社会-空间过程与实践中所凸显的重要价值。本次讨论以边界概念为起点，由此展开关于身份的学术反思。此处的边界被界定为他者性场域，即他者的创造领地，个体在此场域中试图在他者性的框架内完成自我认同。基于这一理论路径，本文分析了上述议题如何呈现并渗透至南马托格罗索州杜拉多斯市小学生对原住民群体的认知之中。通过对该市小学生参与的相关教学活动开展分析，本文进一步围绕边界、身份与他者性三大议题展开反思。研究结论表明，小学生的认知建构源于“自我”与“他者”的区分逻辑，即通过渗透于符号表征体系的要素与评判标准，以及裹挟权力关系的社会排斥形式，确立原住民与非原住民之间的差异边界。