Amazônidas em movimento: trajetórias e resistências de mulheres líderes de movimentos sociais no Amazonas

Abstract

This research investigated how women leaders of social movements in the Amazon construct their representativeness based on their trajectories of struggle. It started from the recognition of the historical invisibility of these women in academic and political spaces, seeking to understand the psychosocial processes that permeate their forms of organization and resistance. The study is justified by the scarcity of research addressing the specificities of female leadership in the Amazon from intersectional and decolonial perspectives. The research established a connection with critical and feminist social psychology by demonstrating how psychosocial processes permeate the resistance trajectories of these women. From this perspective, the study revealed how psychology can understand the transformation of individual experiences of oppression, marked by gender, race, and class, into powerful mechanisms of collective action. The central objectives were to understand how these women articulate their representativeness, identify the challenges in the production of knowledge about Amazonian women, investigate their life trajectories and motivations for activism, and analyze their resistance practices from a feminist perspective. Methodologically, a qualitative approach with thematic oral history was adopted, conducting in-depth interviews with five women leaders of social movements in Amazonas, active in various fronts such as LGBTQIA+ rights, Black movements, and riverside communities. The analysis sought to identify resistance strategies, challenges faced, and the impacts of intersectionality in their trajectories. The results revealed that the engagement of these women emerges as an "inevitable call" stemming from experiences of oppression, as expressed in narratives such as "I was pushed to this place" (Iara) and "the struggle was within me all along" (Cira). The main challenges identified were regional invisibility, institutional barriers, generational conflicts, emotional overload, and lack of public policies. On the other hand, the ability of these leaders to transform individual pains into collective actions was highlighted, creating strategies of struggle and resistance. It is concluded that the research contributed to strengthening the struggles of these women, breaking with victimizing stereotypes and demonstrating the power of their political actions. The results point to the need for a social psychology engaged with Amazonian realities, capable of understanding the specific psychosocial processes of the region and supporting collective care strategies for the activists.