Colonial Violence and Psychosocial Effects: A Dialogue Between Kaiowá and Guarani Experiences and Martín-Baró Writings

Abstract

This text is part of the dialogical relationship that we have built with the Kaiowá and Guarani peoples of Mato Grosso do Sul through teaching and research in Social Psychology. In this research we focus on the narratives of violence reported by these people to analyze their psychosocial effects based on the contributions of Ignacio Martín-Baró. The reports of colonial violence, due to their intrinsic relationships with colonization, come from clippings of notes from the Aty Guasu, Kaiowá and Guarani organization, and from the sensitive listening of different communities and people who have been raped. Access to the notes was through publications on Aty Guasu's blog between 2011 and 2013. We used the methodological strategies of a literature review of Liberation Psychology, analyzing documents and field diary entries when participating in public activities led by the Kaiowá and Guarani. Through these procedures we question the multiplicity of colonial violence, such as homicides and suicides, carried out by different actors. With this study, we consider the substantiation of violence in its colonial terms and roots as a way of understanding, intervening and confronting violent relationships founded on colonialism and perpetuated by its updates in contemporary times.