Doctoral Dissertation Research: Racial Change and Political Identity Formation

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

General Abstract In this project, the research asks how a country that does not have a legacy of racially oppressive laws differs in terms of citizens' consideration of racial identities. This is especially notable in countries with a greater ambiguity in racial categories among its citizens. That said, even in countries that tend to be perceived as racially harmonious, citizens of ambiguous racial background tend to place themselves in racial categories associated with lighter skin colors when possible. This research seeks to assess the implications that result in racial identification after adoption of affirmative action programs for citizens of African descent. The research notes that when such programs were adopted by the government, the result was a significant increase in the number of individuals categorizing themselves as nonwhite. This research proposes to investigate why individuals are increasingly self-identifying in nonwhite racial groups, and why this trend varies across different regions of country in question. The research draws upon existing studies of ethnic identity politics to expand the approach to apply to Latin America where such theories tend to fall short because social cleavages tend be de-politicized by political elites who seek to reduce the influence of such identities within the electoral arena. This project seeks to contribute to this line for work, by improving our understanding of when and where individuals adopt and identify with a particular societal identity when doing so may coincide with an increased discrimination and disadvantage in society. Such insight can help improve the quality of representation in democratic political systems. Technical Abstract This dissertation aims to shed new light on the processes by which social identities translate into political identities. The researcher investigates this question by analyzing the longitudinal and subnational variation in patterns of racial identification. The author will test two hypotheses related to trends in social identities. The first hypothesis is that individuals have begun to reclassify themselves into darker racial categories in order to qualify for newly available affirmative action benefits. The second is a political identity hypothesis in which changes in affirmative action policies have undermined the perception of racial harmony and led more individuals to affirm nonwhite identification. To explain subnational variation, the PI assesses a cleavage structure hypothesis stating that individuals are more likely to reclassify their identification in those localities where racial and class status are reinforcing rather than cross-cutting cleavages. To test these hypotheses, the research design proposes three principal empirical approaches. The researcher will construct an original dataset of municipal-level census data on racial change to test the hypothesis related to the changes in identity observed over time, and on subnational the subnational variation in racial identity. The survey data will be bolstered with additional qualitative field research consisting of participant observation, in-depth personal interviews, focus group interviews, and elite interviews which will provide richer and direct evidence of racial change and its micro-level mechanisms. Third, the PI will conduct local-level surveys to test rival hypotheses of how and why individuals assume nonwhite identities.