On Lands and Dispossession. The Relevance and Potential of Property Law for the Constitutional Recognition of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

This paper intends to consider whether and how minorities, especially Indigenous groups, can and should be protected in Constitutions through property law rules, and it investigates the role that constitutional formants can play in the recognition of multiculturalism and pluralism, dealing with the Brazilian legal system as a case study.

To do so, this article seeks to establish whether the constitutional acknowledgment of ancestral land ownership of Indigenous communities can be a way to safeguard both their rights and, more broadly, other collective interests of society, such as multiculturalism and environmental protection. This essay adopts an interdisciplinary methodology, combining comparative private and constitutional law with an historical perspective. The aim is to valorize the right to property as a vehicle to promote the rights of Indigenous groups, and ensure social justice, taking into account the peculiarities of Latin American legal systems.