SC386-6-AU-CO:
Anthropology of Race and Racism in Latin America

The details
2020/21
Sociology and Criminology
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 08 October 2020
Friday 18 December 2020
15
15 October 2020

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

BA LL36 Social Anthropology,
BA LL3P Social Anthropology (Including Year Abroad),
BA LL6P Social Anthropology (Including Placement Year),
BA LL37 Social Anthropology with Human Rights,
BA LL38 Social Anthropology with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA LL39 Social Anthropology with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA QP10 English Language with Media Communication,
BA QP11 English Language with Media Communication (Including Year Abroad),
BA QP12 English Language with Media Communication (Including Placement Year)

Module description

This module introduces students to the anthropology of Latin America, focusing on issues surrounding race, gender and sexualities. We will briefly cover the history of race and ethnicity in Latin America before looking at more contemporary issues. We will look at how different people see various identities in sometimes radically different ways.

Module aims

To gain an understanding of contemporary Latin America through anthropology

To be familiar with a range of societies and cultures in Latin America

To have in-depth knowledge of how issues of identity, race and gender are interconnected.

To have an appreciation of culture as processual, historical and contested













A familiarity of the racial dynamics of contemporary Latin America
2. An understanding of various ways social difference can be racialised .
3. A grasp of the ways racism is internalised by groups in Latin America.
4. To be familiar with a range of societies and cultures in Latin America
5. To have in-depth knowledge of how issues of identity, race and gender are
interlaced.
6. To have an appreciation of culture as processual, historical and contested

Module learning outcomes

1. A familiarity of the racial dynamics of contemporary Latin America
2. An understanding of various ways social difference can be racialised .
3. A grasp of the ways racism is internalised by groups in Latin America.
4. To be familiar with a range of societies and cultures in Latin America
5. To have in-depth knowledge of how issues of identity, race and gender are interlaced.
6. To have an appreciation of culture as processual, historical and contested

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

Two hour seminar which typically involves lecture, discussion, group work and plenary discussion. There is a particular focus on learning through discussion in pairs, small groups and plenary discussion. On some occasions there will be debates, films and independent learning.

Bibliography

  • Stevens, Evelyn. (1973) 'Marianismo: the other face of machismo in Latin America', in Female and male in Latin America: essays, [Pittsburgh]: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  • Orlove, Benjamin. (1981-) 'Down to Earth: race and substance in the Andes', in Bulletin of Latin American research, Oxford: Blackwell. vol. 17 (2)
  • Wade, Peter. (1994) 'Man the hunter. Gender and violence in music and drinking contexts in Colombia', in Sex and violence: issues in representation and experience, London: Routledge.
  • Benjamin S. Orlove. (no date) 'Down to Earth: Race and Substance in the Andes', in Bulletin of Latin American Research: Wiley.
  • (no date) Gringas and Otavaleños: Changing tourist relations.
  • Canessa, Andrew. (2012) Intimate indigeneities: race, sex, and history in the small spaces of Andean life, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. vol. Narrating native histories
  • Canessa, Andrew. (2008) 'Sex and the Citizen: Barbies and Beauty Queens in the Age of Evo Morales', in Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies. (1) , pp.41-64
  • Canessa, Andrew. (1998) Procreation, personhood and ethnic difference in highland Bolivia.
  • O'Connell Davidson, Julia. (c1998-) 'The sex tourist, the expatriate, his ex-wife and her 'other': the politics of loss, difference and desire', in Sexualities, London: Sage. vol. 4 (1)
  • Burdick, John. (c1993) Looking for God in Brazil: the progressive Catholic Church in urban Brazil's religious arena, Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Kempadoo, Kamala. (2004) Sexing the Caribbean: gender, race, and sexual labor, New York: Routledge.
  • Twine, France Winddance. (c1998) Racism in a racial democracy: the maintenance of white supremacy in Brazil, New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
  • Canessa, Andrew; dawsonera. (2012) Intimate indigeneities: race, sex, and history in the small spaces of Andean life, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. vol. Narrating native histories
  • Collins, John F. (2015) Revolt of the saints: memory and redemption in the twilight of Brazilian racial democracy, Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Sansone, Livio; ebrary, Inc. (2003) Blackness without ethnicity: constructing race in Brazil, New York: Palgrave.
  • Gruzinski, S; Wachtel, N. (1958-) 'Cultural interbreedings: constituting the majority as a minority', in Comparative studies in society and history, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. vol. 37
  • JoAnn Martin. (no date) 'Motherhood and power: the production of a woman's culture of politics in a Mexican community', in American Ethnologist: Wiley.
  • Allen, Catherine J. (c1988) 'Coca and cultural identity', in The hold life has: coca and cultural identity in an Andean community, Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. vol. Smithsonian series in ethnographic inquiry
  • Canessa, A. (1995-) 'Sex and the citizen: barbies and beauty queens in the age of Evo Morales', in Journal of Latin American cultural studies: travesia, Abingdon: Carfax. vol. 17 (1)
  • Zorn, Elayne. (c2004) Weaving a future: tourism, cloth & culture on an Andean island, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
  • Canessa, A. (no date) Sex and the citizen: barbies and beauty queens in the age of Evo Morales.
  • Davidson, J. O. (2001-02-01) 'The sex tourist, the expatriate, his ex-wife and her 'other': the politics of loss, difference and desire', in Sexualities. vol. 4 (1) , pp.5-24
  • Goldstein, Donna. (2013) 'Colour blind erotic democracies', in Laughter out of place: race, class, violence, and sexuality in a Rio shantytown, Berkeley: University of California Press. vol. California series in public anthropology
  • Weismantel, Mary J. (2001) Cholas and pishtacos: stories of race and sex in the Andes, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. vol. Women in culture and society
  • Nelson, Diane M. (c1999) 'Bodies that Splatter: Gender, “Race” and the Discourses of Mestizaje', in A finger in the wound: body politics in quincentennial Guatemala, Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Goldstein, Donna M. (c2003) Laughter out of place: race, class, violence, and sexuality in a Rio shantytown, Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Prieur, Annick. (1996) 'Domination and desire: male homosexuality and the construction of masculinity in Mexico', in Machos, mistresses, madonnas: contesting the power of Latin American gender imagery, London: Verso. vol. Critical studies in Latin American and Iberian cultures
  • Goldstein, Donna. (c2003) 'Colour blind erotic democracies', in Laughter out of place: race, class, violence, and sexuality in a Rio shantytown, Berkeley: University of California Press. vol. California series in public anthropology
  • Cadena, Marisol de la. (2000) 'Insolent Mestizos and Respeto: The Redefinition of Mestizaje', in Indigenous Mestizos: the politics of race and culture in Cuzco, Peru, 1919-1991, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. vol. Latin America otherwise
  • Wachtel, Nathan. (1977) The vision of the vanquished: the Spanish conquest of Peru through Indian eyes, 1530-1570, Hassocks [Eng.]: Harvester Press.
  • Kulick, Don. (1964-) 'The gender of Brazilian transgendered prostitutes', in American anthropologist, Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association. vol. 99 (3)
  • Don Kulick. (no date) 'The Gender of Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes', in American Anthropologist: Wiley.
  • Thomson, Sinclair. (c2002) We alone will rule: native Andean politics in the age of insurgency, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. vol. Living in Latin America
  • Collier, George Allen; Rosaldo, Renato; Wirth, John D. (1982) The Inca and Aztec states, 1400-1800: anthropology and history, New York: Academic Press. vol. Studies in anthropology
  • Gutmann, Matthew C. (c1996) The meanings of macho: being a man in Mexico City, Berkeley: University of California Press. vol. Men and masculinity
  • Nelson, Diane. (c1999) 'Gendering the ethnic-national questions: Rigoberta Menchú jokes and the out-skirts of fashioning identity', in A finger in the wound: body politics in quincentennial Guatemala, Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Crain, Mary. (1996) 'Negotiating identities in Quito’s cultural borderlands: native women’s performances for the Ecuadorian tourist market', in Cross-cultural consumption: global markets, local realities, New York: Routledge.
  • de la Cadena, Marisol. (1995) '"Women are more Indian": ethnicity and gender in a community near Cuzco', in Ethnicity, markets, and migration in the Andes: at the crossroads of history and anthropology, Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Sansone, Livio. (c2003) Blackness without ethnicity: constructing race in Brazil, New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
  • Friedlander, Judith. (1975) 'What it means to be Indian in Hueyapan', in Being Indian in Hueyapan: a study of forced identity in contemporary Mexico, New York: St. Martin's Press.
  • Davidson, Julia O. (no date) The Sex Tourist, The Expatriate, His Ex-Wife and Her ‘Other’: The Politics of Loss, Difference and Desire.
  • Meisch, Lynn A. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, US. (1995) 'Gringas and otavaleños: Changing tourist relations.', in Annals of Tourism Research,. vol. 22 (2) , pp.441-462
  • Collins, John F. (©2015) Revolt of the saints: memory and redemption in the twilight of Brazilian racial democracy, Durham: Duke University Press.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course. The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students. Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Reading Assignment 1  23/10/2020  10% 
Coursework   Reading Assignment 2  30/10/2020  10% 
Coursework   Reading Assignment 3  13/11/2020  10% 
Coursework   Film Commentary 1.  27/11/2020  3.5714% 
Coursework   Reading Assignment 4  04/12/2020  10% 
Coursework   Film Commentary 2.  11/12/2020  3.5714% 
Coursework   Reading Assignment 5  18/12/2020  10% 
Coursework   Book Review or Essay   22/01/2021  28.571% 
Practical   Participation     7.1428% 
Written Exam  Take home test   20/11/2020  7.1428% 
Exam  Main exam: 24hr during Summer (Main Period) 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
70% 30%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
70% 30%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Andrew Canessa, email: canessa@essex.ac.uk.
Professor Andrew Canessa
Jane Harper, Student Administrator, Telephone 01206 873052, email jharper (Non Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk to create the full email address)

 

Availability
Yes
Yes
No

External examiner

Dr Aneira Edmunds
School of Law, Politics & Sociology
Senior Lecturer
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 577 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
575 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
2 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).

 

Further information
Sociology and Criminology

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