As I travel to Brazil with the group of six students affiliated with the Praxis Project, I will explore race consciousness and racial identification in Brazil and its impact on the development of a Black mass movement. As a student of critical race theory, I am most interested in how law shapes racial identities and therefore the ability of oppressed peoples to resist their subordination. I have seen "Eyes on the Prize" more times than I can count, but surely it is not the case that the U.S. Civil Rights movement was launched solely because Rosa Parks "refused to sit in the back of the bus" (actually, Mrs. Parks was already in the back of the bus, but refused to stand up so a white man could take her seat...but I digress...). If social movements do not emerge simply as a result of pervasive injustice or extraordinary acts of courage, what more is needed to motivate subordinated peoples to resist in mass?
The Background
Contemporary social movement theory, largely derived from the experience of U.S. movements, suggests that a collective identity is central to the development of a sustainable mass mobilization of people. In the context of the U.S. civil rights movement, race was central not only as an identity around which movement was organized, it shaped the creation of institutions, the availability of opportunities to disrupt the equilibrium of the state and the building of a collective sense of empowerment among folks who shared the collective identity of Blackness.
In Brazil, Black movement activists have sought to facilitate the development of a collective racial identity which, like the United States, can be used as a mechanism through which a mass movement can be built. Unlike the U.S. civil rights movement, which developed under a regime explicitly steeped in white supremacy, the establishment of a mass base in Brazil is occurring on a societal terrain grounded in the ideology of “racial democracy,” which denied the existence of race as an organizing factor in society and therefore served to undermine the establishment of collective racial identity.
Despite the challenges posed by racial democracy in the development of Black racial consciousness, Black movement activists have succeeded in destabilizing the basic premise of racial democracy. Movement activists have leveraged contemporary scholarship regarding racial inequality in Brazil, linkages to other African diaspora populations and their presence on the international stage to challenge this national ethos. As a result of the efforts of Black movement activists, a new dialogue regarding racial inequality is taking place and affirmative action programs are currently being implemented in various public entities.
The Paper
Contemporary social movement theory, largely derived from the experience of U.S. movements, suggests that a collective identity is central to the development of a sustainable mass mobilization of people. In the context of the U.S. civil rights movement, race was central not only as an identity around which movement was organized, it shaped the creation of institutions, the availability of opportunities to disrupt the equilibrium of the state and the building of a collective sense of empowerment among folks who shared the collective identity of Blackness.
In Brazil, Black movement activists have sought to facilitate the development of a collective racial identity which, like the United States, can be used as a mechanism through which a mass movement can be built. Unlike the U.S. civil rights movement, which developed under a regime explicitly steeped in white supremacy, the establishment of a mass base in Brazil is occurring on a societal terrain grounded in the ideology of “racial democracy,” which denied the existence of race as an organizing factor in society and therefore served to undermine the establishment of collective racial identity.
Despite the challenges posed by racial democracy in the development of Black racial consciousness, Black movement activists have succeeded in destabilizing the basic premise of racial democracy. Movement activists have leveraged contemporary scholarship regarding racial inequality in Brazil, linkages to other African diaspora populations and their presence on the international stage to challenge this national ethos. As a result of the efforts of Black movement activists, a new dialogue regarding racial inequality is taking place and affirmative action programs are currently being implemented in various public entities.
The Paper
In a recent paper for the seminar, I explored the extent to which race consciousness and Black racial identity is a necessary predicate for organizing a mass movement designed to extend the transformative vision of the Black movement. While race-based movements in the U.S. and elsewhere serve as a particular model of mass mobilization, I examined both the existence and efficacy of alternative organizing strategies which center less on a common sense of “racial groupness” and more around common sets of exclusions facing individual members of society.
The Question
While in Brazil, I will continue to explore race consciousness as a basis for mobilization. Through this field study, I will analyze the mobilization strategies and the tactics of collective action currently employed by Black movement activists as well as the applicability of organizing strategies which do not invoke traditional conceptions of racial identity. To the extent that race consciousness is adopted as a mobilization strategy by activists, I will explore the impact of cultural nationalism as a mechanism for racial identity development. In addition, I will interrogate the influence of affirmative action in politicizing race and stimulating racial identification.
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