Doctoral Dissertation Research: Locating Rural Black Women in the Racial Geography of Peru

肤色在决定土著秘鲁人的种族地位方面起着微不足道的作用。因此，研究人员认为，秘鲁的种族是一种流动的文化结构。然而，这些论点仅仅是基于秘鲁土著居民的经验。这项研究将检验种族对秘鲁黑人是否有不同的影响。学者们发现，当印第安人迁移到首都利马时，他们变得更加现代，因此通过梅斯蒂扎伊（种族和文化混合）变得“更白”。这项研究提出的问题是：当秘鲁黑人移民到利马时，他们是否也会变得“更白”？对于秘鲁黑人来说，种族认同是一种流动的结构吗？为了回答这些问题，研究人员将在利马的一个秘鲁黑人村庄和黑人秘鲁人进行一项民族志研究，采用参与式观察和访谈。关于秘鲁种族的文献和关于拉丁美洲黑人的文献都没有提供对当代秘鲁黑人社区的描述。对秘鲁黑人经历的遗漏不仅仅是一种疏忽，因为对秘鲁黑人经历的调查可能会揭示秘鲁种族文化定义的不一致，以及与非裔拉丁美洲人有关的关于梅斯蒂扎伊人的主流话语。该研究人员将开发一个秘鲁种族认同的理论框架，以解释秘鲁黑人的经历。这将有助于从社会学角度更广泛地理解种族和民族认同的社会建构及其在空间上的差异。这项研究的更广泛的影响是，更好地了解梅斯蒂扎伊人，因为它与秘鲁黑人有关，将有助于阐明整个拉丁美洲以及美国的种族问题。这是因为在所有拉丁美洲国家都有关于混血和白人的言论。美国学者目前也认为，美国的种族关系正变得越来越像拉丁美洲，并采用民族主义的混血儿意识形态——我们都是美国人。这种美国版的色盲意识形态与拉丁美洲的色盲民族主义非常相似，通过梅斯蒂扎伊人的修辞来表达。此外，研究人员打算把这篇论文变成一本书，这将是第一本用英语出版的关于秘鲁黑人的民族志，也是自1980年以来第一本用任何语言出版的书。

Skin color plays an insignificant role in determining the racial status of indigenous Peruvians. For this reason, researchers have argued that race in Peru is a fluid and cultural construct. However, these arguments are based solely on the experiences of indigenous Peruvians. This study will examine whether or not race works differently for black Peruvians. Scholars have found that, when Indians migrate to the capital city of Lima, they become more modern, and thus 'whiter,' through mestizaje (racial and cultural mixing). The questions posed in this research are: Do black Peruvians also become 'whiter' when they migrate to Lima? Is racial identity a fluid construct for black Peruvians? To answer these questions, the researcher will conduct an ethnographic study, using participant observation and interviews, in a black Peruvian village and of black Peruvians in Lima. Neither the literature on race in Peru nor the literature on black Latin Americans provide a depiction of contemporary black Peruvian communities. The omission of the experiences of black Peruvians is more than a mere oversight, for an investigation of the black Peruvian experience may reveal inconsistencies in the cultural definition of race in Peru as well in the prevailing discourse on mestizaje as it relates to Afro-Latin Americans. The researcher will develop a theoretical framework of racial identity in Peru that accounts for the experiences of black Peruvians. This will contribute to a broader sociological understanding of the social construction of racial and ethnic identity, and of its variation across space. The broader impact of this research is that a better understanding of mestizaje as it relates to black Peruvians will serve to illuminate racial issues throughout Latin America as well as here in the United States. This is because the rhetoric of mestizaje and whiteness is present in all Latin American countries. US scholars are also currently arguing that race relations in the US are becoming more Latin America-like, and adopting a nationalist mestizo ideology - We are all Americans. This US version of color-blind ideology is quite similar to Latin American color-blind nationalism, expressed through the rhetoric of mestizaje. Additionally, the researcher intends to turn this dissertation into a book, which will be the first ethnographic account of black Peruvians published in the English language, and the first published in any language since 1980.