Remaking Racial Inclusion: Combining Race and Class in Brazil’s New Affirmative Action

Abstract

New multicultural regimes now characterize much of Latin America, creating opportunities for ethno-racial populations to fight for social inclusion. Yet, the literature identifies uneven patterns of success in those endeavors. Scholars argue that states more readily consider claims based on the recognition and protection of cultural difference as legitimate, but are resistant to calls for the remedy of racial discrimination. As a counterexample, we examine the case of affirmative action in higher education in Brazil, and specifically in the state universities of Rio de Janeiro. We explore how issues of racial exclusion and discrimination gained traction in public policy in that context. Perhaps more importantly, though, we show that race was only one component of that policy; instead, race was combined with class to establish a new type of beneficiary status for affirmative action: poor black students. Beyond Rio de Janeiro, we suggest the wider diffusion in Brazil of the combined race and class category for determining target populations.