(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Fondo Editorial, 2014) Valdivia Vargas, Néstor
This document is based on a recent study on the relation between ethnicity, culture, «race» and ancestry among Afro-Peruvians. Findings show that while construction of the «black» or Afrodescendant identity in Peru holds the cultural dimension as a central component, it mainly - and fundamentally- revolves around the idea of the existence of a «black race». According to these «racialized» identity criteria, the boundaries of an Afro-descendant «we» cover only those with certain phenotypic markers that Afro-Peruvians themselves consider as defining membership in the «black race». The phenotypical «evidence» of «blackness» thus appears as a kind of «necessary condition» for the «black»/Afro- Peruvian identity. This form of self-identification poses a threat to the political discourses and projects of Afro-Peruvian organizations seeking to build a «de-racialized» Afrodescendant identity, one that is linked to a historical memory of the African diaspora which, nonetheless, seems to hold a weak presence among our country’s people of African descent.
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Fondo Editorial, 2014) Santos, Martín
There is a growing interest in studying discrimination in Peruvian Social Science. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to assess critically recent empirical research on discrimination in Peru, with an emphasis on racial, ethnic and social discrimination in employment and income, firms, health organizations, education, relationship with public agencies and everyday life. After reviewing the relevant literature on discrimination, this article presents a critical appraisal, taking into consideration the research questions posed, the theoretical frameworks and analytical categories used, the ways in which the notion of «race» is measured, the questions asked to measure discrimination, the manners in which discrimination is detected, and the (debatable) ways researchers interpret their findings. The articleconcludes by highlighting gaps in the literature which should be addressed.
