Pigmentocracies: Ethnicity, Race, and Color in Latin America

Abstract

Pigmentocracies--the fruit of the multiyear Project on Ethnicity Race in Latin America (PERLA)--is a richly revealing analysis of contemporary attitudes toward ethnicity race in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, four of Latin America's most populous nations. Based on extensive, original sociological anthropological data generated by PERLA, this landmark study analyzes ethnoracial classification, inequality, discrimination, as well as public opinion about Afro-descended indigenous social movements 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 public opinion in Latin America. Edward Telles, PERLA's principal investigator, explains that profound historical political forces, including multiculturalism, have helped to shape the formation of ethnic identities the nature of social relations within across nations. One of Pigmentocracies's many important conclusions is that unequal social 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 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 ethnicity have been downplayed or ignored as key factors despite their importance for earlier nation-building.

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