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Scaling proximity to whiteness : Racial boundary-making on São Tomé Island Bouchard, Marie-Eve

Abstract

In this article, I examine how scales are produced, stabilized, and challenged through communicative practices, and how these scales organize (since colonial times) the racial groups that form Santomean society. I argue that the historical distinctive status of the Forros and the prestigious status of the Portuguese language are influenced by different scaling practices that are intertwined and interrelated. I demonstrate that it is the Forros’ imagined and historical proximity to whiteness that bestow them racial privilege, and that allows them to maintain their position of social and political power in the country. In other words, their power results from proximity to Whiteness.

Item Metadata

Title
Scaling proximity to whiteness : Racial boundary-making on São Tomé Island
Creator
Bouchard, Marie-Eve
Date Issued
2020-11-08
Description
In this article, I examine how scales are produced, stabilized, and challenged through communicative practices, and how these scales organize (since colonial times) the racial groups that form Santomean society. I argue that the historical distinctive status of the Forros and the prestigious status of the Portuguese language are influenced by different scaling practices that are intertwined and interrelated. I demonstrate that it is the Forros’ imagined and historical proximity to whiteness that bestow them racial privilege, and that allows them to maintain their position of social and political power in the country. In other words, their power results from proximity to Whiteness.
Subject
Raciolinguistic ideologies; Scaling; Whiteness; Portuguese; Creole; São Tomé Island
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Notes
Open access funding provided by the UBC Open Access Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Research.
Date Available
2023-05-31
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0432749
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84727
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of
Citation
Bouchard, Marie-Eve. "Scaling Proximity to Whiteness: Racial Boundary-Making on São Tomé Island." Ethnography, 2020, pp. 146613812096737.
Publisher DOI
10.1177/1466138120967373
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International