Blackness without ethnicity : constructing race in Brazil /

Sansone (Centro de Estudos Afro-Asiaticos, Universidade Candido Mendes, Brazil) presents a detailed and insightful analysis of the complex and contradictory construction and commodification of "pure" African culture in Brazil, defined at times by Sansone as the "use and abuse of Africa." He examines the Brazilian state's paradoxical role in promoting the nation's image as a "racial democracy" while subverting the development of racial-ethnic consciousness and politics. The book describes Brazilian racial classification schemes and analyzes the socioeconomic status of four major color groups in Brazilian data collection and analysis. Sansone also describes the recent impact of globalization on youth culture in Bahia and Rio and compares the status of blacks in Bahia and Amsterdam. In the end, the author appears conflicted. He does not believe that blacks in Brazil must simply overcome their "false consciousness" to advance, or that race will be a central issue in Brazilian party politics or voting behavior, as in the US. Yet he questions the efficacy of the current political status quo in which the gradualist black rights movement organizes against racial discrimination and class inequities without any actual policy changes. "Racial-Cultural Identity without Politics" may be a more apt title than Blackness without Ethnicity. An essential work for analysts in the field. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty. J. A. Fiola Minnesota State University Moorhead