With the objective of bringing to light works around women historical fights and the right to land in Brazil, Proprietas makes public the Elizabeth Award. The proposal honors Maria Elizabeth Teixeira, an important rural leader in the country.
The National Institute of Science and Technology – Social History of Properties and Right of Access – INCT Proprietas, is an international project coordinated by Dr. Márcia Motta and financed by the main research investment agencies in Brazil (CAPES, CNPq and FAPERJ). Within the challenge of promoting a broader dialogue with Latin American peers, as well as expanding the policy of access to monographic production on the different notions of property, Proprietas makes public the Elizabeth Award.
The objective is to reward the best work that has as its guiding thread the discussions about women’s fight and the fight for land. With the rise of Jair Bolsonaro’s government, the discussion on the right of access to property and the defense of the common good – central objects of research and discussions undertaken by Proprietas – added to the other dramatic situations that women experience in Brazil and Latin America as a whole. Therefore, the Elizabeth Award was designed in the face of the immeasurable increase in femicide and the increase in machismo as a political and social structure in this territory.
On the award’s structure:
The INCT – Proprietas will select, through a public contest, the best text written in Portuguese or Spanish on female protagonism and the fight for land in the Iberian world. The winning work will be awarded with publication in physical and digital books. To compete for the award research on the themes will be accepted regardless of whether they are master’s, doctorate’s or even monographs’. The team of judges will be composed of historians, geographers, social scientists and other professionals from the human and social sciences, from Latin American and European institutions, with the evaluation panel being composed exclusively of women. The edict’s call will be available in three languages – Portuguese, Spanish and English – and will be published in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned to the INCT – Proprietas social media, as well as our website.
The call notice is available here.
On the honoree:
Today Maria Elizabeth Teixeira is 96 years old and is an important peasant leader in Paraíba. She is the widow of João Pedro Teixeira, founder of the Liga Camponesa de Sapé and also the protagonist of the documentary Cabra Marcado para Morrer, premiered in 1964. After the murder of her husband – through the action of landowners in 1962 – Elizabeth reacted and didn’t bow to threats. Mother of eleven children, she continued to fight for decent work, to defend the poorest and for agrarian reformation.
