The subaltern speak: Indigenous women's judicial activism in Brazil

Abstract

To answer Gayatri Spivak's question, ‘Can the subaltern speak?’ this article examines a historic case in which Indigenous women from Brazil filed a claim of illegal trafficking before the Russell Tribunal on human rights. By means of the ‘soft’ litigation of international human rights mechanisms, the tribunal provided a platform for marginalized victims and witnesses to provide testimony before a global audience. The case opened new legal pathways and influenced the growth of Indigenous women's associations throughout the country, including the creation of AMARN, founded by the plaintiffs, and now Brazil's oldest Indigenous association. The example demonstrates that the capacities of the speaker alone are inadequate to answer Spivak's question. A listening audience, and the historical conditions in which the speech interaction takes place, are of equal, if not greater, importance. For the vulnerable to speak, there must be an arena in which they can do so and be heard.