A vulnerabilidade da criança indígena no contexto de exploração do trabalho infantil no estado do Amazonas

Abstract

The present research aims to understand to what extent learning practices developed by indigenous children fit into a cultural context that must be preserved and protected due to the right to diversity and self-determination of indigenous peoples. Depending on the factual context in which they occur, these practices could either be considered an integral part of cultural heritage or, alternatively, be perceived as a form of child labor, the prohibition of which is constitutionally grounded. Thus, the starting point is an analysis of the recognition of the vulnerability of children and adolescents in the 1988 Brazilian Constitution (CF/88), due to their unique status as individuals in development. This involves a historical overview, beginning with the Doctrine of Irregular Situation, which viewed children as subjects of state guardianship and intervention, leading to the consolidation of their role as rights-holders. This transition is marked by the adoption of the Comprehensive Protection Doctrine, emphasizing the pivotal status of this social category in both the Constitutional Text and the Child and Adolescent Statute of 1990.The latter explicitly regulates the principles of the best interest of the child and the adoption, with the highest priority, of public policies concerning childhood. Subsequently, the study aims to analyze the subjective right to self-determination of indigenous peoples, constitutionally provided for in Article 231 of the CF/88. This article recognizes, in a prominent position, the right to the difference of these peoples through the protection and respect for their customs, traditions, way of life, and social organization. In a Plural Rule of Law, the interpretation of constitutional norms, such as Article 7, item XXXIII, of the CF/88, which prohibits child labor, should be conducted dialogically, considering the indigenous peoples' conception of childhood, which has ethno-cultural markers quite different from the traditional Western conception of childhood. Finally, in its concluding chapter, this study analyzes the aggravated vulnerability of indigenous children in the panorama of childhood protection and eradication of child labor. This is due to the absence, in the Brazilian scenario, of public policies that consider the differentiated condition of indigenous children from an intercultural perspective. This highlights the scarcity of debates and measures in addressing indigenous child labor, in the face of harmful practices that transcend the traditional character of indigenous peoples.