‘The real indigenous are higher up’: locating race and gender in Andean Peru

Abstract

This work considers the paradoxes of perceived differences whereby Peruvians frequently assert that those who are more indigenous or authentically Andean live ‘más arriba,’ or higher up. Historically, there has been great social and economic interdependence across ecological zones in Peru. Today, social standing is often measured in inverse proportion to the altitude of one’s origins, with Lima at sea level holding the greatest prestige. When Andeans migrate to nearby cities or to the urban coast, they often ‘upgrade’ their status by claiming to be from somewhere other than their rural home. Using a practice referred to as ‘choleando’ (racial one-upmanship), Peruvians may reject ethnic labels for themselves just as they project them on others, in an effort to show they belong in a society that excludes many of them. At the same time, desires to embrace what is Andean as the source of celebrated national cuisine, heritage, and cultural identity are in dramatic evidence as Peru builds its ‘brand’ for global consumption. In this article I trace ambivalent notions of racialized and gendered bodies and territories across three research locations, from rural peasant community to provincial city and urban capital.

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