Latin American Anti-Racism, 2017-2019

Moreno Figueroa, Monica (2021). Latin American Anti-Racism, 2017-2019. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-854971

Latin America has often been held up as a region where racism is less of a problem than in regions such as the United States or Europe. Because most people are 'mestizos' (mixed race) and mixture is often seen as the essence of national identity, clear racial boundaries are blurred, resulting in comparatively low levels of racial segregation and a traditionally low public profile for issues of race. In Europe and the United States, the racial mixture and interaction across racial boundaries, which are typical of Latin America and are becoming more visible elsewhere, are heralded by some observers as leading towards a 'post-racial' reality, where anti-racism and multiculturalism - seen in this view as divisive policies that accentuate social differences - become unnecessary. Critics point out that mixture is not an antidote to racial inequality and racism in Latin America: they all coexist. This severely qualifies claims that mixture can lead to a 'post-racial' era.

This project will investigate anti-racist practices and ideologies in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The project will contribute to conceptualising and addressing problems of racism, racial inequality and anti-racism in the region. We also propose that Latin America presents new opportunities for thinking about racism and anti-racism in a 'post-racial' world. Understanding how racism and anti-racism are conceived and practised in Latin America - in contexts in which mixture is pervasive - can help us to understand how to think about racism and anti-racism in other regions of the world, where notions of race have been changing in some respects towards Latin American patterns. It is also crucial to show the variety of ways in which mixture operates and co-exists with racism in Latin America - a region that is far from homogeneous.

Research teams in each country, working with a range of organisations concerned with racism and discrimination, will explore how the organisations conceptualise and address key problems, which are becoming more salient in other regions, which confront similar scenarios. First, how to practice anti-racism when most people are mixed and when they may deny the importance of race and racism and themselves be both victims and the perpetrators of racism. Second, how to conceptualise and practice anti-racism when 'culture' seems to be the dominant discourse for talking about difference, but when physical difference (skin colour, hair type, etc.) remain powerful but often unacknowledged signs that move people to discriminate. Third, how to understand racism and combat it when race and class coincide to a great extent and make it easy to deny that race and racism are important factors. Fourth, how to make sure anti-racism addresses gender difference effectively, in a context in which mixture between white men and non-white women has been seen as the founding act of the nation. Fifth, how to pursue anti-racism when it is often claimed that there is little overt racist violence and that this is evidence of racial tolerance. We will explore how these elements structure - and may constrain - ideas about (anti-)racism within institutions, organisations and everyday practice.

Our project will work with organisations in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico - countries that capture a good range of the region's diversity - to explore how racism and anti-racism are conceptualised and addressed in state and non-state circles, in legislation and the media, and in a variety of campaigns and projects. We aim to strengthen anti-racist practice in Latin America by feeding back our findings and by helping build networks; and to provide useful insights for understanding racism and anti-racism within and outside the region.

Data description (abstract)

The data consist of transcripts of interviews with 19 individuals from Brazil and 5 individuals from Colombia, who are all involved in Black and Indigenous activist organisations or in state agencies that are charged with promoting anti-racism and/or human rights.

Each transcript begins with a paragraph giving contextual information

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Moreno Figueroa Monica	University of Cambridge	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8012-8087

Contributors:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Wade Peter	University of Manchester	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4070-4187

Sponsors:

ESRC

Grant reference:

ES/N012747/1

Topic classification:

Social stratification and groupings
Society and culture

Keywords:

RACISM, INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS, BLACK PEOPLE

Project title:

Latin American Antiracism in a 'Post-Racial' Age

Grant holders:

Monica Moreno Figueroa, Wade Peter, Viveros-Vigoya Mara, Guimaraes Antonio Sergio Alfredo, Martinez Juan, Salazar De La Torre Laura Cecilia

Project dates:

From	To
1 January 2017	18 November 2019

Date published:

18 Nov 2021 15:43

Last modified:

18 Nov 2021 15:44

Coverage and Methodology

Collection period:

Date from:	Date to:
1 January 2017	18 November 2019

Country:

Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico

Data collection method:

The project carried out research in four countries, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. We started by scoping out a broad range of organizations and individuals who were working in a direct or indirect fashion to challenge racism and racial inequality. We then selected seventeen case studies (over a third of which were Indigenous), with which we worked in depth, while also touching on about twenty other cases in a less intensive way. The cases were selected in order to include both Black and Indigenous organisations and cases, and to include a range of cases from government bodies to grassroots activist movements, plus some legal processes in which a variety of actors and organizations were involved.

Our methods were mainly ethnography and interviews, undertaken principally by the four postdoctoral researchers, each of whom worked in one country. Some interviews were done with the assistance of a research assistant hired in the country. The interviews were conducted mostly in 2017, with some in 2018, in localities appropriate to the case study, such as an organization’s offices, an individual’s residence, or an agreed neutral location (e.g. a café, a village square, a classroom). Some interviews were informal conservations, but most were at least semi-structured. Common interview guides were not used, as each interview was specific to the case in question. Many interviews were audio-recorded (some were video-recorded) and selected interviews were transcribed in full or in part. Files with the original audio recordings and the transcripts are stored on a secure server in the University of Manchester. The files uploaded here are a selection of the transcribed interviews.

Observation unit:

Individual

Kind of data:

Text

Type of data:

Qualitative and mixed methods data

Resource language:

Spanish, Portuguese

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