THE PROTAGONISM OF BLACK WOMEN IN BRAZIL: WHAT DO RESEARCH STUDIES IN UNDERGRADUATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS AT BRAZILIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS SAY FROM 2014 TO 2024?

Abstract

This article analyzes the scientific production of undergraduate final thesis papers in Brazilian teacher education programs regarding the protagonism of Black women in Brazil, from 2014 to 2024. The investigation was guided by the following research questions: What do undergraduate research studies at Brazilian higher education institutions say about the protagonism of Black women in Brazil? What theories are present in the investigative work of the analyzed research? What research methodologies are present in the analyzed scientific productions? The general objective is to conduct a critical reading of research related to the protagonism of Black women in different spheres (economic, political, educational, cultural, and artistic), developed by Brazilian academics, paying close attention to the methodological and theoretical approaches adopted. The theoretical framework is grounded in Nascimento (2021), Ribeiro (2018; 2019), González (2020), Pinheiro (2020), Carneiro (2011), hooks (2023), Davis (2016), and Evaristo (2017a; 2020), among other scholars. Methodologically, a State-of-the-Art approach was adopted for systematic literature mapping. Searches across university portals and academic databases yielded 91 undergraduate thesis papers, from which 35 were selected and analyzed in depth. The findings reveal a collective project of epistemological reconstruction, in which Black women cease to be objects of study and become subjects of knowledge, articulating memory, body, art, literature, and education in practices of resistance, decolonization of thought, and social transformation.