ABSTRACT

In the context of rising South-South migration to Chile, this article examines how Chileans redefine and claim whiteness in a multicultural working-class neighborhood in Santiago. It contributes to regional racial studies by analyzing how whiteness is constructed in multicultural neighborhoods where different national and racialized identities that share a colonial past converge, and where the nation-state has historically pursued a progressive whitening through the adoption of racist state policies. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I show how Chileans construct a white racial identity vis-à-vis the presence of, and through ordinary interactions with, Latin American and Caribbean migrants. As is the case elsewhere, in contemporary Chile whiteness is an ongoing everyday social construct that is not only conveyed as a discourse, but also through the practice or performance of power in the social textures of urban life. Making and enacting whiteness becomes a way in which racial hierarchies of belonging are materialized to achieve a higher status in an unequal racialized society. This study reveals how Chileans claim to be ‘white(r)’ than the South-South migrants they interact with, reproducing a Chilean hegemonic discourse about national identity, through the many practices of everyday life. The article’s main argument is that making whiteness through these ordinary occurrences reproduces anti-indigenous and anti-black racism.

摘要

在越来越多的南南移民到智利的背景下，本文探讨了智利人如何在圣地亚哥的多元文化工人阶级社区中重新定义和主张白人。它通过分析白度如何在多元文化社区中构建而有助于区域种族研究，在这些社区中，具有殖民历史的不同民族和种族身份汇聚在一起，并且民族国家在历史上通过采用种族主义国家政策来追求渐进的白化。借助民族志实地考察，我展示了智利人如何通过拉丁美洲和加勒比移民的存在以及通过与他们的日常互动来构建白人种族身份。与其他地方的情况一样，在当代智利，白度是一种持续不断的日常社会建构，它不仅作为一种话语来传达，也可以通过在城市生活的社会结构中实践或表现权力。制造和实施白人成为一种方式，在这种方式中，种族归属等级被具体化，以在不平等的种族化社会中获得更高的地位。这项研究揭示了智利人如何声称自己比他们与之互动的南南移民更“白(r)”，通过日常生活中的许多实践再现了智利关于民族认同的霸权话语。文章的主要论点是，通过这些普通事件制造白人再现了反土著和反黑人的种族主义。这项研究揭示了智利人如何声称自己比他们与之互动的南南移民更“白(r)”，通过日常生活中的许多实践再现了智利关于民族认同的霸权话语。文章的主要论点是，通过这些普通事件制造白人再现了反土著和反黑人的种族主义。这项研究揭示了智利人如何声称自己比他们与之互动的南南移民更“白(r)”，通过日常生活中的许多实践再现了智利关于民族认同的霸权话语。文章的主要论点是，通过这些普通事件制造白人再现了反土著和反黑人的种族主义。