Doctoral Dissertation Research: Racial Change and Political Identity Formation

在这个项目中，该研究询问了一个没有种族压迫法律遗产的国家在公民对种族身份的考虑方面有何不同。 这在公民种族分类较为模糊的国家尤其明显。 也就是说，即使在那些被认为种族和谐的国家，种族背景模糊的公民也会尽可能地将自己归为与浅色肤色相关的种族类别。 这项研究旨在评估对非洲裔公民采取肯定行动方案后导致种族认同的影响。 研究指出，当政府采用这些计划时，结果是将自己归类为非白人的人数显着增加。 这项研究旨在调查为什么个人越来越多地在非白人种族群体中自我认同，以及为什么这种趋势在不同地区有所不同。 这项研究借鉴了现有的种族身份政治的研究，以扩大适用于拉丁美洲的方法，这种理论往往达不到，因为社会分裂往往是非政治化的政治精英，他们试图减少这种身份的影响，在选举竞技场。该项目旨在为这一工作领域做出贡献，提高我们对个人何时何地接受和认同特定社会身份的理解，因为这样做可能与社会中日益严重的歧视和不利处境相吻合。 这种洞察力可以帮助提高质量的代表在民主政治systems.Technical AbstractThis论文旨在揭示新的光的过程中，社会身份转化为政治身份。 研究者通过分析种族认同模式的纵向和国家以下的变化来调查这个问题。 作者将检验两个与社会认同趋势相关的假设。第一个假设是，个人已经开始将自己重新归类为较黑的种族类别，以便有资格获得新的扶持行动福利。 第二种是政治身份假设，其中平权行动政策的变化破坏了种族和谐的观念，并导致更多的人肯定非白人身份。为了解释国家以下的变化，PI评估了一个分裂结构假说，指出在种族和阶级地位加强而不是交叉分裂的地方，个人更有可能重新分类他们的身份。为了验证这些假设，研究设计提出了三个主要的实证方法。研究人员将构建一个原始数据集的省级人口普查数据的种族变化，以测试有关的假设，随着时间的推移观察到的身份的变化，并在国家以下的种族身份的变化。调查数据将得到额外的定性实地研究的支持，包括参与者观察，深入的个人访谈，焦点小组访谈和精英访谈，这将为种族变化及其微观机制提供更丰富和直接的证据。第三，PI将进行地方层面的调查，以测试个人如何以及为什么采取非白人身份的竞争假设。

General AbstractIn this project, the research asks how a country that does not have a legacy of racially oppressive laws differs in terms of citizens' consideration of racial identities. This is especially notable in countries with a greater ambiguity in racial categories among its citizens. That said, even in countries that tend to be perceived as racially harmonious, citizens of ambiguous racial background tend to place themselves in racial categories associated with lighter skin colors when possible. This research seeks to assess the implications that result in racial identification after adoption of affirmative action programs for citizens of African descent. The research notes that when such programs were adopted by the government, the result was a significant increase in the number of individuals categorizing themselves as nonwhite. This research proposes to investigate why individuals are increasingly self-identifying in nonwhite racial groups, and why this trend varies across different regions of country in question. The research draws upon existing studies of ethnic identity politics to expand the approach to apply to Latin America where such theories tend to fall short because social cleavages tend be de-politicized by political elites who seek to reduce the influence of such identities within the electoral arena. This project seeks to contribute to this line for work, by improving our understanding of when and where individuals adopt and identify with a particular societal identity when doing so may coincide with an increased discrimination and disadvantage in society. Such insight can help improve the quality of representation in democratic political systems.Technical AbstractThis dissertation aims to shed new light on the processes by which social identities translate into political identities. The researcher investigates this question by analyzing the longitudinal and subnational variation in patterns of racial identification. The author will test two hypotheses related to trends in social identities. The first hypothesis is that individuals have begun to reclassify themselves into darker racial categories in order to qualify for newly available affirmative action benefits. The second is a political identity hypothesis in which changes in affirmative action policies have undermined the perception of racial harmony and led more individuals to affirm nonwhite identification. To explain subnational variation, the PI assesses a cleavage structure hypothesis stating that individuals are more likely to reclassify their identification in those localities where racial and class status are reinforcing rather than cross-cutting cleavages. To test these hypotheses, the research design proposes three principal empirical approaches. The researcher will construct an original dataset of municipal-level census data on racial change to test the hypothesis related to the changes in identity observed over time, and on subnational the subnational variation in racial identity. The survey data will be bolstered with additional qualitative field research consisting of participant observation, in-depth personal interviews, focus group interviews, and elite interviews which will provide richer and direct evidence of racial change and its micro-level mechanisms. Third, the PI will conduct local-level surveys to test rival hypotheses of how and why individuals assume nonwhite identities.