Comparing Ideologies of Racial Mixing in Latin America: Brazil and Mexico

Abstract

By the end of the twentieth century, with the rise of multicultural discourses and identity politics, Latin American ideologies of racial mixture had become increasingly denounced as myths that conceal (and thus support) the reproduction of racial inequalities. These studies have largely been guided by comparisons between countries with widespread racial mixing (usually Brazil, Mexico or Colombia) and countries in which it was less encouraged and visible (most commonly, the USA). In this paper we move the focus to the diverse ways in which racial mixture currently impacts racial formations in the Latin America, looking initially at Brazil and Mexico, two of the largest countries in the region, and also those with the largest Afro-descendent and indigenous populations in the continent. For comparison, we analyze survey data from the PERLA project.

Capítulo 10: Interconexiones críticas entre la diversidad cultural y biológica de los pueblos y ecosistemas Amazónicos

“…For example, the Colombian Constitution of 1886 aimed to build a modern country "without inferior races", referring to what they called the "savages" inhabiting Amazonian forests (Castro-Gómez 2009;Marquardt 2011). Such ideologies led to the promulgation of laws promoting European immigration to several Latin American countries after World War I, in an effort to "whiten" their populations (Castro-Gómez 2009;Kabalin Campos 2018;Silva and Saldivar 2018).…”

Dystopian Eugenics and Mestizo Futurisms in Eduardo Urzaiz's Eugenia

“…Due to Spanish Imperialism, the term mestizo was used in most Latin American countries. However, nowadays in Mexico, mestizo is used as an identity that is considered as a synonym to mexicanidad (Silva and Saldivar, 2018: 433). The mestizo as an identity holds many contradictions because it responds to an assorted and diverse discourse that varies through different temporalities and contextual dynamics.…”

From preventive eugenics to slippery eugenics: Population control and contemporary sterilisations targeted to indigenous peoples in Mexico

“…This was one of the many categories that existed during the caste system in Latin America. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, mestizaje became a way of homogenising the population in Mexico (López Beltrán 2013 , p. 391)—as almost synonymous to mexicanidad (Silva & Saldivar, 2018 , p. 433). Mestizaje became a political and social ideology defined during the Mexican nation‐building process.…”