This article compares the transformation of carnival celebrations in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay at the beginning of the 20th century. It argues that changes in carnival practices in the River Plate region was linked to the rise of a vacation culture in Montevideo. The article also assesses the historiography on Montevideo's carnival which has cast a negative light on the impact of modernization and the festival. In comparison to Buenos Aires', carnival in Montevideo was fomented by governmental regulation. Finally, the article examines the relationship between carnival and each of the city's African-descent populations.
Studies of racial subordination in Brazil usually stress the puzzling co-existence of racial inequality with Brazil's self image as a racial democracy. Frequently, they identify the absence of racial conflict and a clear white black distinction as explanations for the low level of black political mobilization. In doing this, these studies unreflectedly take the United Sates as a universal model of racial subordination of which Brazilian difference is a mere variation.
