Papers by Jonathan Warren
Frontiers of Citizenship, 2018
Frontiers of Citizenship is an engagingly written, innovative history of Brazil's black and indig... more Frontiers of Citizenship is an engagingly written, innovative history of Brazil's black and indigenous people that redefines our understanding of slavery, citizenship, and the origins of Brazil's "racial democracy." Through groundbreaking archival research that brings the stories of slaves, Indians, and settlers to life, Yuko Miki challenges the widespread idea that Brazilian Indians "disappeared" during the colonial era, paving the way for the birth of Latin America's largest black nation. Focusing on the postcolonial settlement of the Atlantic frontier and Rio de Janeiro, Miki argues that the exclusion and inequality of indigenous and African-descended people became embedded in the very construction of Brazil's remarkably inclusive nationhood. She demonstrates that to understand the full scope of central themes in Latin American history-race and national identity, unequal citizenship, popular politics, and slavery and abolition-one must engage the histories of both the African diaspora and the indigenous Americas.
Cultures of Development, 2016
This study presents the current distribution of narrow small-reed (Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) K... more This study presents the current distribution of narrow small-reed (Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) Koeler) in the southern part of Nyírség (E Hungary). Beyond the efforts to confirm previously known occurrences, a high number of potential habitats were surveyed. Field work was carried out from late autumn to early spring taking advantage of the better perceptibility of dry foliage. The species was detected in 43 localities inside the boundary of 15 settlements, which considerably exceeded our expectations. Although most of the populations were quite small, in some cases their extent reached over 1000 m². Populations around the settlements of Penészlek, Fülöp and Nyírábrány were the most frequent and the largest in size. The endangered status of the species is caused by the insufficient water supply of suitable habitats in the region. Besides habitat change, desiccation can also amplify the effect of anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. ploughing, fishpond development), which poses a further threat to populations.
... overcome. Racial Hegemony Until recently most explanations of the paucity of antiracist actii... more ... overcome. Racial Hegemony Until recently most explanations of the paucity of antiracist actiiism have tended to "demonize or grant inordinatc powcrs to the elitc" and crase (or at least not adequately Page 4. :1:~1:1) .\a.\.~ns PUI? ...
Equity & Excellence in Education, 2019
ABSTRACT This article offers a three-part explanation as to why US anthropology has largely avoid... more ABSTRACT This article offers a three-part explanation as to why US anthropology has largely avoided engagement with critical race studies. First, almost 85% of US anthropologists are white and thus bring colorblind sensibilities to their profession, given the culture in which they live and/or were raised. Second, this penchant is compounded by their discipline’s construction of race as an unscientific, folk category. The proper term to use, anthropologists are taught, is ethnicity, which is deemed discrete from race qua biology. Finally, the consideration of race threatens an understanding of some of white ethnographers' most cherished relationships, the quality and consequences of their work, and, perhaps most importantly, the image of themselves as individuals and/or good people. In the concluding section, we outline concrete, actionable steps forward for anthropology and the risks that the discipline runs if it continues to fail to engage with critical race studies.
Journal of Black Studies, 1997
We Hispanics are, finally, like other immigrant groups… Yes, the Hispanics are going to become mo... more We Hispanics are, finally, like other immigrant groups… Yes, the Hispanics are going to become more like the majority. Their families will be smaller, better educated, more traveled. Roots will be lost. Language will be lost. Food will be the last to go. We will be eating tacos and tortillas for a long time to come. (Cesar Chavez, cited in Morgan, 1985, pp. 79–80) The American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro. (James Baldwin, cited in Leeming, 1994)
Teaching Race and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America, 2013
Much of the attention of critical race studies in the United States has been targeted at colorbli... more Much of the attention of critical race studies in the United States has been targeted at colorblindness in white America. This paper considers a small but significant subset of whites who have received far less attention: politically progressive whites who are race cognizant. Drawing from my teaching experiences in the U.S. and research experience in Brazil, I review what I have found to be the principal barriers to antiracism among this population and in the process advance a number of theoretical debates within critical race studies. I also offer pedagogical strategies for enabling progressive whites to become more effective antiracists. These teaching recommendations include demonstrating how racial literacy is learned, underscoring how whites, pay a price for white supremacy, challenging instrumentalist assumptions about white resistance to antiracism, and pushing whites to engage with antiracist counterpublics of color.
Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education
Latin American Research Review, 2008
In many Latin American countries, indigenous populations have recently exhibited rapid growth. Ma... more In many Latin American countries, indigenous populations have recently exhibited rapid growth. Many scholars recognize that this indigenous population resurgence is due to a combination of demographic processes, such as births, deaths, and migration, as well as changing racial-ethnic identities. However, there is little quantitative data verifying the relative importance of these two types of processes for indigenous population growth. We seek to fi ll this gap by quantifying the relative contribution of both mechanisms in Brazil's indigenous population resurgence. Our fi ndings indicate that during the 1990s, race-ethnic reclassifi cation was more important than demographic processes. This varied regionally, in that identity change was most important in northeastern and southeastern Brazil. These fi ndings bear implications regarding indigenous movements, identity politics, and prospective indigenous population growth in Brazil and elsewhere. * The authors thank Kendra McSweeney and the race-ethnicity discussion group of the Department of Sociology at the University of Florida for comments on previous versions of this paper. Flavia Leite also provided valuable assistance with references and translation of the abstract. Errors of presentation and interpretation are the responsibility of the three authors.
Journal of Historical Sociology, 1998
As in various parts of the Western Hemisphere, the indigenous population of eastern Brazil has in... more As in various parts of the Western Hemisphere, the indigenous population of eastern Brazil has increased rapidly in recent decades. Based on over fifty in-depth interviews that I conducted with eastern Indians and the twelve months I spent living in their households and communities between 1994 and 1997, I discovered that much of this demographic phenomenon has been fueled by increasing numbers of individuals self-identifying as Indian who had not always identified as such or their parents had not identified as Indian. A number of lay people and scholars have argued that this shift in the direction of racial formation has been driven by state induced material incentives. Yet my ethnographic data, which I detail in great depth in this article, suggests that in terms of the material factors responsible for Indian resurgence that the state's sticks have been a much more significant variable than the state's racializing carrots. In other words, I found that the fundamental change in state practices in eastern Brazil has been in the drastic reduction of the costs of being Indian. Thus I posit and demonstrate how one of the primary variables behind this demographic shift has been the reduction of state led and sanctioned anti-Indian violence in eastern Brazil. * * * * * Let us seek to fulfill the objectives fixed by President Geisel, so that, through concentrated work among various Ministries, within ten years, we can reduce to twenty thousand the 220 thousand Indians existing today in Brazil, and within thirty years, all of them shall be duly integrated into the national society. Rangel Reis, Brazilian Minister of the Interior, 1976
Human Rights Review, 2001
White supremacy is an enduring tradition in Brazil. In a nation where at least half of the popula... more White supremacy is an enduring tradition in Brazil. In a nation where at least half of the population is nonwhite, actors on television shows, elected officials, university faculty and students, models in magazines, and people in middle and upper-middle class occupations are almost exclusively white. 1 In fact, racial inequalities are so dismal that some observers have compared contemporary race relations in Brazil to those in the United States prior to the civil rights movement. Michael Hanchard has argued, for example, that "the disparities in health, education, welfare, and employment between whites and nonwhites in Brazil, suggest, at the very least, bleak social conditions that rival or surpass those experienced by U.S. blacks in the 1950s and 1960s or colonized peoples of color in the Caribbean and elsewhere." 2 Although the level of racism is startling, what is most noteworthy about Brazilian race relations is not the degree of white supremacy but rather the paucity of antiracist critique and political mobilization. In general, race has not been politicized nor has it turned into a site of popular mobilization and national debate. On the contrary, it is widely believed that racism is not a very serious or pressing matter. 3 Far from supporting or rallying behind antiracist politicians, activists, or organizations, most Brazilians-including many racial subalterns-hold that Brazil is a racial democracy. 4 Thus Brazilian society represents an instance of racial hegemony in that racialized patterns of dominance and subordination are sustained less by force than by consent. 5 Scholars of race have looked almost exclusively at subjectivities, communities and movements that are situated in blackness. Moreover, and without exception, they have ignored Indianness. That is, within the subfield of critical race studies, there has been a pervasive, albeit unexamined, assumption that black identities are key to antiracism and that Indian subjectivities are irrelevant. 6 As a result, the focus has been on excavating African histories and genealogies, encouraging the production of negro subjectivities, generating greater popular support for the black movement, and revalorizing blackness. Absent have been studies of the Indian movement, indigenous histories, Indian identity formation, or anti-Indian racism/ As a consequence of this bias towards blackness, there is no published research of which I am aware that has examined the possible significance of indigenous communities, interpretive worlds, and organizations for race JW: Who were your ancestors? Consuela: I don't know. JW: Do you know if you're the descendant of slaves? Consuela: I don't know. Nobody ever said anything. All that I know is what I learned in school. Everything that I know about blacks is because of school because that is the stuff of history, so we have to learn about that, about blacks and slaves. JW: Do you know if you're a descendant of Africans or Indians? Consuela: No one here at home knows. JW: Of Europeans? Consuela: It appears that the father of my mother was Italian. Her mother was black and Spanish-something like that, but they never told me much about the black side. But she always talked about her father being Italian and her grandmother being Spanish.
American Journal of Sociology, 2004
Ethnicities, 2011
There has been extensive debate about the putative imperial dimensions of critical race studies i... more There has been extensive debate about the putative imperial dimensions of critical race studies in Latin America. The concern is that US racial discourses, identities and anti-racist strategies are being incorrectly applied to, if not forced upon, Latin America. Those who disagree with this position, including ourselves, argue that it is legitimate to take insights and understandings gleaned in the USA as tools for understanding and challenging racism in Latin America. However, we also believe that the exchange of ideas regarding effective anti-racist strategies should flow in both directions. Therefore, in this article we change the direction of the traditional dialogue by discussing ways in which research in Latin America can inform the theoretical foundation of antiracism in other countries, such as the USA. Specifically, we discuss the implications of current strategies of race mixing, minimization of racial consciousness, colorblindness, multiculturalism and racism literacy for...
American Anthropologist, 1991
Scholars generally agree that American Indian populations were reduced substantially following Eu... more Scholars generally agree that American Indian populations were reduced substantially following European contact by a variep of Old World diseases. However, scholarly attention has been devoted almost exclusively to ascertaining mortality during smallpox and other disease episodes and its impact on population size, as typiJied in '%orking backwards" to ascertain earlierpopulation size. American Indian populations were dynamic entities, and were constantly changing as members were born, died, or migrated, even ifpopulation size from one year to the next was relatively constant. The interaction of disease, mortality, andfertility as well as the age structure of mortality and resulting rates ofpopulation growth inzuenced changes in American Indian population size following experiences with any particular disease. These factors operated to produce either greater or lesser declines than simple mortality rates would suggest. This article presents simulations developed to understand changes in American Indian population size following hypothetical episodes of smallpox. CHOLARS TODAY DEBATE ABORIGINAL American Indian population size and the S magnitude and timing of American Indian depopulation following European and African arrival in the western hemisphere, particularly for the area north of present-day Mexico (see, for example,
When I teach methods courses I often lecture from Charles Wagley's R~c e and Class in Rural Brazr... more When I teach methods courses I often lecture from Charles Wagley's R~c e and Class in Rural Brazrl. This edited volume of extremely rich ethnographies, originally published in 1952, always proves a n effective means of illustrating how a researcher's assumptions and experiences aiiect not only what he or she sees and records but also the conclusions drawn from his or her data. These case studies are an ideal pedagogical tool far making this basic methodological point because they detaii what contemporary North American students almost universally recognize as strong indicators of racism. Yst Wagley maintains that "Brazil has no 'race problem' in the same sense that exists in many other parts of the world" (1952: 7).
¡n many Latin American countries, indigenous populations have recently exhibited rapid groioth. M... more ¡n many Latin American countries, indigenous populations have recently exhibited rapid groioth. Many scholars recognize that this imiigenous population resurgence is due to a combinatioti of demographic processes, such as births, deaths, and migration, as well as changing racial-ethnic identities. However, there is little quantitative data verifying the relative importance of these two types of processes for indigenous population growth. We seek to fill this gap by quantifying the relative contribution of both mcchnnisnis in Brazil's indigenous population resurgence. Our findings indicate that during the 1990s, race-ethnic reclassification ivas more important than demographic processes. This varied regionally, in that identity change u'as most important iu northeastern and southeastern Brazil. These findings bear implications regarding indigenous movements, identity politics, and prospective indigenous population growth in Brazil and elsewhere.
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Papers by Jonathan Warren