The Afro-Brazilian art of capoeira combines music and movement to relay stories and identities through the interaction of two players in a circle, accompanied by musicians and singers. Illegal at the beginning of the twentieth century, capoeira is now a cultural institution and export that is protected by the Brazilian state and recognised by UNESCO, with capoeira players protecting and promoting their interests through the practice and development of their art.

Prof. Zoë Marriage has written a book on the subject of capoeira, entitled “Cultural Resistance and Security from Below”, published in 2019, that investigates how resistance is communicated through capoeira. The book brings the musical and corporeal narrative from capoeira into conversation with debates on security; these have typically been dominated by northern, white, military voices, and as a result, the perspective of the weaker player is routinely overlooked in security literature and policy making.

About the speaker

Zoe Marriage is Professor of Security and International Development at SOAS University of London. Her work focuses on conflict and its relationship with development, and she has conducted extensive research on the African continent in contexts of war. Zoe has also researched how communities survive in violently unequal societies through arts that construct communities, identities and histories.

Website: Home - Rede Nordestina/Northeastern Network - Art, Resistance, Transformation