Chicago: University of Chicago, Dept. of Anthropology
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
272 p., Analyzes the relations between macropolitical changes and the lives of people in Alcantara. Chapters detail: (1) the changing social, economic, and ecological lives of Alcantara's villagers; (2) the contested effects of recent multicultural governance in Brazil--specifically remanescentes das comunidades dos quilombos (escaped-slave descended communities); (3) how state-sanctioned experts in Alcantara help shape people's understanding of the region's deep social inequality; and (4) the circulation of rumors of US plans to undermine Brazil's space program and invade the Amazon forest.
Journal Article, Uses data from a nationally representative panel survey of Mexican adults to examine the extent of skin color based social stratification in contemporary Mexico. Despite extreme ambiguity in skin color classification, the author finds considerable agreement among survey interviewers about who belongs to three skin color categories. The results also provide evidence of profound social stratification by skin color. Individuals with darker skin tone have significantly lower levels of educational attainment and occupational status, and they are more likely to live in poverty and less likely to be affluent, even after controlling for other individual characteristics.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
396 p, Contents: Foreigners : Sao Paulo, 1900-1925 -- Fraternity : Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, 1925-1929 -- Nationals : Salvador da Bahia and São Paulo, 1930-1945 -- Democracy : São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, 1945-1950 -- Difference : São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador da Bahia, 1950-1964 -- Decolonization : Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, and São Paulo, 1964-1985 -- Epilogue : Brazil, 1985 to the new century.
I do know that racial identity is important and perceived differently there. For example, people who consider themselves black or African American in the U.S. would not automatically be considered black or African Brazilian in Brazil. People who have brown or lighter skin complexions in Brazil are mulattos, morenos, or some other nonblack color category. Approximately half of Brazil's 150 million people are classified as mulatto or black. "Pe na cozinha" means "Foot in the kitchen" and "mulatinho" means "little mulatto." "Foot in the kitchen" refers to someone normally seen as white acknowledging his African ancestry because the kitchen is the kitchen of slavery in which blacks served white in all aspects of life.
