LAURA GOTKOWITZ (ed.): Histories of Race and Racism: The Andes and Mesoamerica from Colonial Times to the Present. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011.

Abstract

Race and racism are two problematic categories that are used in this book to reflect on recent political events in Latin America – events that are historically rooted in deep and conflictive societal relationships. From the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia, to the use of archaeological ruins for the construction of a national narrative mixed with Indigenismo ideologies, mestizaje discourse and ideology, and the formation of indigenous movements, the book presents (I borrow the title of one of the chapters), “A Postcolonial Palimpsest: The Work Race Does in Latin America.”