As Latin America's flagship 'racial democracy,' Brazil is famous for its history of race mixture and fluid racial boundaries. Traditionally, scholars have emphasized that this fluidity has often led to whitening, where individuals seek classification in white, or lighter, racial categories. Yet, Back to Black documents a sudden reversal in this trend, showing instead that individuals are increasingly opting to identify with darker, and especially black, racial categories. Drawing on a wealth of quantitative and qualitative data, David De Micheli attributes this sudden reversal to the state's efforts at expanding access to education for the lower classes. By unleashing waves of upward mobility, greater education increased individuals' personal exposure to racial hierarchies and inequalities and led many to develop racial consciousness, further encouraging black identification. The book highlights how social citizenship institutions and social structures can work together to affect processes of identity politicization and the contestation of inequalities.

Book Information
ISBN 9781009472395
Author David De Micheli
Format Hardback
Page Count 300
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press