Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil

by France Winddance Twine

In Racism in a Racial Democracy, France Winddance Twine asks why Brazilians, particularly Afro-Brazilians, continue to have faith in Brazil's "racial democracy" in the face of pervasive racism in all spheres of Brazilian life. Through a detailed ethnography, Twine provides a cultural analysis of the everyday discursive and material practices that sustain and naturalize white supremacy.

This is the first ethnographic study of racism in southeastern Brazil to place the practices of upwardly mobile Afro-Brazilians at the center of analysis. Based on extensive field research and more than fifty life histories with Afro- and Euro-Brazilians, this book analyzes how Brazilians conceptualize and respond to racial disparities. Twine illuminates the obstacles Brazilian activists face when attempting to generate grassroots support for an antiracist movement among the majority of working class Brazilians. Anyone interested in racism and antiracism in Latin America will find this book compelling.
"This wonderfully engaging study explodes the myth of racial democracy in a pathbreaking analysis of Brazilian style." -- Karen Brodkin, author of How Jews Became White Folks

"Twine offers one of the most sophisticated analyses to date of the intransigence of Brazilian racism. Her nuanced account of the complex interplay of gender, race, and class is particularly exciting. This book will have a powerful impact not only on the field of Brazilian racial studies, but on the whole burgeoning literature on the African Diaspora." -- Howard Winant, author of Racial Politics, Theory, Comparisons

"A revealing and sharply observed dissection of how racism works 'on the ground' in Brazil." -- George Reid Andrews, author of Blacks and Whites in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1888-1988

Genres: Anthropology, Race, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Sociology, History, Politics

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Arie W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a part of my Race in Latin America class and it is one of my favorite books I have read in a history class. It was very eye opening and interesting how similar the plight of Afro-Brazilians is to the plight that blacks have faced here in America. Very informative, but not dry as most history books are. I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

[Alicia Krewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twine provides an insightful analysis of race in Brazil as informed by her identity as a POC from the US.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d be interested in a more current book (this was written in ‘96) but this was still really interesting.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

More readable than the title implies.