Race And Ethnicity In Latin American History

First Published in 1994. In nearly all racially and ethnically heterogeneous societies, there is overt national conflict among parties and social movements organized on the basis of race and ethnicity. Such conflict has been much less evident in Latin America. Scholars have pondered the nature of race and ethnicity with regard to both Afro- American and Indo-American societies, though research on Brazil has been particularly prominent. Special attention has been given to the relationship between social class and race and ethnicity.

The Spanish and Portuguese empires that existed in the Americas for over three hundred years resulted in the creation of a New World population in which a complex array of racial and ethnic distinctions were embedded in the discourse of power. During the colonial era, racial and ethnic identities were publicly acknowledged by the state and the Church, and subject to stringent codes that shaped both individual lives and the structures of society. The legacy of these distinctions continued after independence, as race and ethnicity continued to form culturally defined categories of social life. In Race and Ethnicity in Latin American History, Vincent Peloso traces the story of ethnicity and race in Latin America from the sixteenth century to the contemporary period. In a short, synthetic narrative, he lays the groundwork for students to understand how the history of colonial racism is connected to the problems of racism in today's Latin American societies. With features including timelines, plentiful maps and illustrations, and boxes highlighting important historical figures, the text provides a clear and accessible introduction to the complex subject of race and ethnicity in the history of Latin America.

The Spanish and Portuguese empires that existed in the Americas for over three hundred years resulted in the creation of a New World population in which a complex array of racial and ethnic distinctions were embedded in the discourse of power. During the colonial era, racial and ethnic identities were publicly acknowledged by the state and the Church, and subject to stringent codes that shaped both individual lives and the structures of society. The legacy of these distinctions continued after independence, as race and ethnicity continued to form culturally defined categories of social life. In Race and Ethnicity in Latin American History, Vincent Peloso traces the story of ethnicity and race in Latin America from the sixteenth century to the contemporary period. In a short, synthetic narrative, he lays the groundwork for students to understand how the history of colonial racism is connected to the problems of racism in today’s Latin American societies. With features including timelines, plentiful maps and illustrations, and boxes highlighting important historical figures, the text provides a clear and accessible introduction to the complex subject of race and ethnicity in the history of Latin America.

'An excellent source on past and present debates, and a coherent and insightful set of proposals concerning methodology'.International Affairs'More than merely providing a student's textbook. [Wade] covers the main themes and offers a comprehensive overview of the relevant debates ... an excellent textbook.'European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies'Wade's latest book is intelligent and easy-to-read, and represents a significant contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of race and ethnicity in Latin America.'Patterns of Prejudice

Pigmentocracies--the fruit of the multiyear Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA)--is a richly revealing analysis of contemporary attitudes toward ethnicity and race in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, four of Latin America's most populous nations. Based on extensive, original sociological and anthropological data generated by PERLA, this landmark study analyzes ethnoracial classification, inequality, and discrimination, as well as public opinion about Afro-descended and indigenous social movements and policies that foster greater social inclusiveness, all set within an ethnoracial history of each country. A once-in-a-generation examination of contemporary ethnicity, this book promises to contribute in significant ways to policymaking and public opinion in Latin America. Edward Telles, PERLA's principal investigator, explains that profound historical and political forces, including multiculturalism, have helped to shape the formation of ethnic identities and the nature of social relations within and across nations. One of Pigmentocracies's many important conclusions is that unequal social and economic status is at least as much a function of skin color as of ethnoracial identification. Investigators also found high rates of discrimination by color and ethnicity widely reported by both targets and witnesses. Still, substantial support across countries was found for multicultural-affirmative policies--a notable result given that in much of modern Latin America race and ethnicity have been downplayed or ignored as key factors despite their importance for earlier nation-building.

Issues of race and ethnicity in Latin America continue to gain a growing amount of academic attention. While themes of ethnic identities, indigeneity, and race relations are commonly examined in our respective disciplines, it is less common to bring together essays from scholars from such a broad variety of disciplines. The papers collected in this volume draw on a wide range of studies from across Latin America, including the examination of ethnohistory, the environment, and culture. They convey a large diversity of perspectives, disciplines, and issues that reflect the richness and complexities of the social processes that encompass the Americas. Taken as a whole, this broad range of studies on ethnohistory, environmental and legal issues, education, and culture advances our understandings of race and ethnicity in Latin America. In the process, these studies incorporate related issues of how historical and political developments in Latin America have, and continue to be, experienced differently based on varying gendered and class perspectives. These studies examine how those speaking from the margins continue to shape and reshape what we know as Latin America.

Praise for the first edition of Dictionary of Latin American Racial and Ethnic Terminology: "Essential for any library that has Hispanic patrons or users who read or listen to even a smattering of Spanish: in today's multicultural environment, almost every academic library should own this book."--Choice "A major contribution to the understanding of historical and contemporary concepts of race and ethnicity in Latin America and, to a certain extent, in the United States."--Ethnic Studies "The most thorough and trustworthy lexicon of Ibero-American ethnic descriptors ever published. It will serve many a scholar as the point of departure for primary-source fieldwork in one of the most fascinating semantic fields of Western-Hemisphere Spanish and Portuguese."--Language "For the first time, a detailed etymology of Spanish and Portuguese words used for racial and ethnic purposes in Latin America. . . . Cites sources for word usage and, where possible, provides the context in which the word is used. An invaluable reference work for researchers in race and ethnicity."--Library Journal This thoroughly revised and updated version of Thomas M. Stephens's popular and respected dictionary now features terms of the French American and American French Creole Caribbean. In addition, it introduces new symbols and abbreviations and cross-references more terms between and among Spanish, Portuguese, and French than in the first edition. Stephens also has combined some terms whose only difference was a matter of spelling, intercalated the definitions for terms he has re-alphabetized, and updated definitions. Without altering his earlier book's successful form and style, Stephens here has radically augmented the content of a classic reference work. Thomas M. Stephens, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University, is the author of Dictionary of Latin American Racial and Ethnic Terminology (UPF, 1990)and has published various articles on language and ethnicity.