Color and Mestizo Hierarchies in the Colombian Western Amazon

Authors

  • Margarita Chaves Chamorro Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X.1261

Keywords:

color, miscegenation, mestizaje, identity, ethnicity, indigenous peoples, homesteaders, Colombian Amazonia

Abstract

In the amazonia, as well as in the latin american context, race and ethnicity are conceptually limited categories for dealing with ethnic and racial orders created by mestizaje; an order characterized by fluidity and ambiguity in which any claims at inclusion within the categories of Indian, black, mestizo or white is far from being evident. The article tries to show the advantages presented by incorporating the category of ‘color’, as a specific category complementing those of race, ethnicity and class. Color is important for analyzing the dynamics between different groups with fluid frontiers and between individuals who perceive themselves as Indian, black, mestizo and white, but more specifically in contexts where phenotypic traits associated to racial stereotypes, ethnicity or class are not sufficient to establish hierarchies within or between mestizos.

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Author Biography

Margarita Chaves Chamorro, Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History

Anthropologist, National University of Colombia
M.A. in Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
D. in Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Research topics: ethnic and social identities, spatial mobility and identity, market and cultural consumption, state ethnography and public policies, Amazonia.

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Published

2002-01-01

How to Cite

Chaves Chamorro, M. . (2002). Color and Mestizo Hierarchies in the Colombian Western Amazon. Revista Colombiana De Antropología, 38, 189–216. https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X.1261

Issue

Section

Identity scenarios