19th Annual Tinker Symposium Keynote Lecture

Dr. Carmen Martínez Novo, University of Florida

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When

4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Nov. 7, 2024

Where

Kiva Theatre, Student Union

Please join the Center for Latin American Studies for the 19th Annual Tinker Symposium Keynote Lecture with Dr. Carmen Martínez Novo on Thursday, Nov. 7th from 4:30pm to 5:30pm at the Student Union, Kiva Theatre. 

Paternalism and ventriloquism as forms of white privilege and colonial legacies in Latin America.

This talk discusses the privilege associated with self-identifying and being identified as white in Latin America. “Whiteness” is understood broadly as an entrenched global system and considered in the intersections between race (white or light mestizo) and class (upper and middle class). The talk argues that to be “white” in Latin America is not only about skin color or phenotype, but also a way of acting in the world that provides advantages to some groups over others. More specifically, it explores the privilege of claiming to protect others and speaking for them through a discussion of the concepts of paternalism, maternalism and ventriloquism. Maternalism is highlighted given the important role played by upper-class, white-mestizo women in building inter-ethnic and inter-class unequal relationships. It is claimed that similarly to mestizaje, to speak for others and become their advocate is a false promise of inclusion. The behavior of dominant groups is analyzed as a legacy of colonial social relations congealed in legal figures. These legal concepts have lingered in Latin American legislation and continue to shape contemporary inter-ethnic relations. Finally, the talk shows how historical patterns of paternalist and maternalist domination come to constitute a coherent system for the management of racialized populations.   

Carmen Martinez Novo is Professor of Latin American Studies at the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida and the Editor in Chief of Latin American Research Review. She has a PhD in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research. She is the author of Undoing Multiculturalism: Resource Extraction and Indigenous Rights in Ecuador (2021, University of Pittsburgh Press), Who Defines Indigenous? Identities, Development, Intellectuals and the State in Northern Mexico (2006, Rutgers) and the editor of Repensando los movimientos indígenas (Rethinking indigenous movements, 2009, FLACSO). She has co-edited journal issues and published numerous articles and book chapters on indigenous identities and politics in Mexico and Ecuador. She is a Fulbright specialist for the 2024-2027 period. Martinez Novo is a member of the Executive Council of the Latin American Studies Association and was the Chair of the Ethnicity, Race and Indigenous Peoples (2016-18) and the Ecuadorian Studies (2009-2011) sections of the same association.