*Apologies for cross-posting*
Latin American Anthropology Seminar Series
Thursday 13 February 2020
Nadia Mosquera, ILAS
Contesting Mestizaje: Exploring the politicization of blackness in Venezuela
Since the colonial era to the present day, race has always been assembled along class lines in Venezuela’s social structure. However, the number of Venezuelans who identify in unambiguous categories of blackness is low. The reason for this is how the population reproduces dominant ideologies of race and racial mixture known as mestizaje. This is noteworthy if we consider that Venezuela is said to have the third-largest percentage of Afro-descendants in South America, only superseded by Brazil and Colombia. This seminar will explore how black activists and cultural producers are reaching out to black Venezuelans through a form of oral poetry dated from the 16th century known as décima. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Venezuela’s northern state of Vargas between 2015-16, I will address how cultural resources such as décimas allow us to broaden mainstream discussions on how Afro-Latin American populations mobilise themselves politically. Using the case of Afro-Venezuelans, I will argue that décimas emerge as sites whereby circulations of ideas of race, nation, racial mixture and gender are discussed before an audience to revalorise blackness whilst challenging manifestations of structural racism.
The seminar will be held at 17:00 in Room 944, UCL Institute of Education, Bedford Way, Bloomsbury, London, WC1H 0AL
Book your place here<https://ilas.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22127>.
All are welcome. Attendance is free.
For more information about the seminar and future sessions, you can visit our blog<https://anthropologyseminarilas.blogs.sas.ac.uk/>. You can also Follow us on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/LatinAmericanSeminar/> and Twitter<https://twitter.com/LAanthropology> to receive seminar updates.
Dr Jessica Sklair
Research Fellow | Margaret Anstee Centre for Global Studies | Newnham College | University of Cambridge
Associate Fellow | Institute of Latin American Studies | School of Advanced Study | University of London
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