5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

The 1970s marked the emergence of several indigenous movements in Latin America, driven by post-World War II national liberation struggles in Africa and Asia; for demands for human rights; and by feminist, ethnic and environmental movements across much of the world. The Session aims to investigate and reflect on the environmental defense experiences promoted by indigenous social movements, especially in Latin America, as well as the configuration of their action processes. There are a large number of indigenous communities in the region, many of which live in areas of great ecological importance. These communities have a strong understanding of their surrounding ecosystems, having developed complex relationships with plants, animals and land over thousands of years. Unlike anthropocentric reasoning, indigenous peoples conceive of all human beings as interconnected, all being part of the planet as a living organism. This understanding led them to organize themselves in order to protect the environment in the face of the challenges imposed by political and economic reality. The aim is to reflect on the development of these movements, since their formation process, and problematize the theoretical perceptions inherent to the notions of social movement, indigenous movement, theoretical and methodological challenges in the analysis of these social movements, especially considering the place of the subjects /as and the processes of struggles to defend the environment carried out by collective actions and their sociopolitical relations with different spheres.