Unexpected Narratives from Multicultural Policies

Translations of Affirmative Action in Brazil

Bibliographic Data

ID2177944
AuthorsL F Schwartzman (0000-0002-4719-9171, University of Toronto), Graziella Moraes Silva (0000-0003-3191-6022, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), Graziella Moraes Dias Da Silva
Year2012
Volume7
Issue1
Pages31-48
Publication date2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-2222 • E-ISSN: 1744-2230
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17442222.2012.658295
OpenAlexW1992693878
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited29

This paper investigates the ways in which the global spread of multicultural policies affects local ideas about race, inequality and diversity as evident in affirmative action policies in Brazilian universities. Our interviews with university administrators and university students indicate that, when implemented in Brazil, affirmative action acquired new meanings and predominantly class-based justifications. Such a transformation is illustrated by the idea of diversity, which acquired a different meaning to diversity discourses in the United States and international agencies. For administrators, the idea of diversity did not take racial groups for granted but was part of a broader, black consciousness-raising project. Students experienced diversity within the university environment, but often understood it as class, not racial, diversity

Action (physics · Affirmative action · Class (philosophy · Consciousness · Consciousness raising · Cultural diversity · Diversity (politics · Epistemology · Higher education · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Multicultural education · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Pedagogy · Political science · Race (biology · Racism · Sociology · Anthropology · Critical Race Theory in Education · Gender Studies · Law · Race, Identity, and Education in Brazil · Social and Cultural Dynamics