TY - JOUR
T1 - Estamos distanciados
T2 - The black middle class and politics in Cali, Colombia
AU - Pattillo, Mary
AU - Rico, Rosa Emilia Bermúdez
AU - Guevara, Ana María Mosquera
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was co-funded by the Fulbright Commission and ICETEX in Colombia and housed in the research group "Estudios Étnico-raciales y del Trabajo en sus Diferentes Componentes Sociales," in the School of Social and Economic Sciences at the Universidad del Valle. Fernando Urrea Giraldo provided crucial support in securing the funding and in offering feedback on the research project. We also thank Jan Grill, Beatriz Guerrero, Mariela Palacios, Aurora Vergara, Carlos Viáfara, and the Centro de Estudios Afrodiaspóricos at ICESI University for additional guidance, support, and access. We are especially grateful to the interviewees and survey respondents for sharing their perspectives.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.
PY - 2021/3/1
Y1 - 2021/3/1
N2 - A Black middle class has emerged in many Latin American countries. Yet given the fluidity of Black identity, it is unclear if socioeconomic gains will result in the consolidation of a Black middle-class group identity with a sense of political responsibility or purpose. In this article, we use qualitative interviews with twenty-two Black professionals in Cali, Colombia, plus a small convenience survey, to explore the following research questions: Does the intersection of being Black and middle class cohere into a group identity? If so, does it translate into a Black political consciousness? And if not, what are the obstacles? We find that while respondents individually identify with a Black middle-class label, they do not experience it as a group that feels symbolic bonds of attachment or acts in a coordinated or mutually cognizant manner. It is a category without shape or coherence. It is amorphous. There are four primary explanations for Black middle class amorphism: the absence of shared or positive markers of collective Black identity; a lack of organizational infrastructure; taboos against organizing along racial lines in the workplace; and a strong individualist ethos towards protecting opportunities and enhancing personal status. We situate our findings within the field of Black politics to discuss what might be lost or gained by this amorphism.
AB - A Black middle class has emerged in many Latin American countries. Yet given the fluidity of Black identity, it is unclear if socioeconomic gains will result in the consolidation of a Black middle-class group identity with a sense of political responsibility or purpose. In this article, we use qualitative interviews with twenty-two Black professionals in Cali, Colombia, plus a small convenience survey, to explore the following research questions: Does the intersection of being Black and middle class cohere into a group identity? If so, does it translate into a Black political consciousness? And if not, what are the obstacles? We find that while respondents individually identify with a Black middle-class label, they do not experience it as a group that feels symbolic bonds of attachment or acts in a coordinated or mutually cognizant manner. It is a category without shape or coherence. It is amorphous. There are four primary explanations for Black middle class amorphism: the absence of shared or positive markers of collective Black identity; a lack of organizational infrastructure; taboos against organizing along racial lines in the workplace; and a strong individualist ethos towards protecting opportunities and enhancing personal status. We situate our findings within the field of Black politics to discuss what might be lost or gained by this amorphism.
KW - Black middle class
KW - Black politics
KW - Colombia
KW - Group identity
KW - Latin America
KW - Political consciousness
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U2 - 10.1017/S1742058X21000047
DO - 10.1017/S1742058X21000047
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85104550238
VL - 18
SP - 49
EP - 72
JO - Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race
JF - Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race
SN - 1742-058X
IS - 1
ER -