Latinx exam 1 study guide

ethnic studies

the study of ethnic and racial minorities in the United States, constant state of revision and polishing, birth was a consequence of the civil rights and anti-war movements broadly construed

• demand for equitable education

• oriented by a desire for social justice and peace

why is ethnic studies unique

youth and commitment to social justice, pursue knowledge in the interest of bettering humanity, need to create it speaks to the failure of traditional disciplines to achieve the goal of social justice on their own

social justice

a utopic deșire that represents the dream of a perfect society, one that is just and equitable

project that is never ending or constance, hence asymptotic

Latinx studies

ethnic studies refers to a discipline, and Latinx studies would be a subfield of that discipline

Latinx term

created for the purpose of inclusion, English catchall term that names anyone of latin American descent in the US, does not represent a choice between being

Sarah huckabee sanders

signed an executive order banning the term “Latinx” from all state documents, result was that all documents for departments and state agencies in Arkansas will replace “Latinx” with “hispanics” “latino/as”

Jose marti

cuban literary figure, philosopher, and revolutionary for cuban independence from Spain (died in action)

our americas greatest danger is the formidable neighbor

monroe doctrine (1823)

warning European countries not to interfere in western hemisphere

manifest destiny (1845)

that providence dictated that the US ought to spread from the Atlantic to the pacific

mexican-american war (1846-48)

and spanish American war (1898)

roosevelt corollary (1904)

that the US has an obligation and responsibility to protect life and property in the western hemisphere (interventionism)

marti’s argument

it is imperative that out neighbor know us, so that it will not scorn us, understanding is the foundation for mutual respect, mitigates hate and the possibility of violence

colonialism

founding movement of modern western societies in this hemisphere, represents the imposition of a new social model that destroyed and replaced the diversity of indigenous social models that existed before European arrival

• race and racism

• new way of organizing gender and sexuality

• new political model

• new economic system

made possible through violence, genocide, slavery

colonialism before

profound social impact, but its reason for being was not social engineering, but rather the pursuit of wealth

did not produce an incalculable economic boom for colonial powers, laid foundation and created economic stimulus over course of 3 centuries, development of capitalism and industrial revolution in europe

economic shift caused by colonialism

discovery of western hemisphere unsettled the centrality of mediterranean and muslim world as the center of world trade, finally granted europeans direct trade access to asian markets for first time, Atlantic became new hub for global trade (europe, Africa, americas), and those who controlled that trade and body of water benefited most, economic benefit of “free” land, labor, natural resources

similarities and differences in Iberian and European colonialism

similarities: extraction of wealth and a reliance on slave labor

differences: what was being extracted and who was enslaved

racial mixing in Iberian colonial setting

sexual violence, expanse of colonial territory and need to legitimize colonial authority, small number of European women made race mixing inevitable

made a messy social context and place a strain on the maintenance of a clear color line and racial hierarchy

casta (caste) paintings

illustrated complex racial mixture classifications of colonial caste system

3 central features of colonial societies

race/racism: in order to justify hierarchy and privilege between colonizer and colonized

exploitation: for wealth extraction; taking indigenous land and using slavery on an industrial scale

violence: instrument that brought colonies society into existence and guaranteed their continued existence

proportional relation between suffering and wealth production stimulated by colonialism

improvement of quality of life for europeans means the decline of the quality of life for africans and indigenous Americans

Eurocentrism

eurocentric: having or regarding purpose as its center, focusing on europe to the exclusion of the rest of the world, implicitly regarding Europeans or European culture as pre-eminent

modernity

the quality or condition of being modern; modernness of character or style, intellectual tendency or social perspective characterized by departure from or repudiation of traditional ideas, doctrines, and cultural vales in favor of contemporary or radical values and beliefs

dussel

title suggest a link between an ethnocentric perspective and a specific historical moment/date, beginning of “modern times” represents a moment in history when europe took itself as the model for what progress and civilization is, imposed this view on the non-western world through colonialism, through violent coercion

modern (west)

civilized, advanced, developed

primitive (non-west)

savage, backward, underdeveloped

dussel’s argument

modern and primitive are part of an ethnocentric position that would privilege a particular segment of human over the rest, this judgement would bleed into western thought

2 central claims: marking the specific starting point of modernity, marking the conceptual impact of modernity on the development of western thought itself

traditional position of modernity

exclusively European phenomenon, begins in europe with a series of shifts that establish the fundamental contours of modern western society

three European shifts in connection to modernity

political: shift from divine monarchy to republican forms of governance (nation state, American and French Revolution)

epistemological: shift from conception of truth based on religion and faith to one grounded on secular reason (Kant)

economic: the formation and birth of capitalism

what dussel says: agrees shifts were important, disagrees that they mark the birth of modernity

relational position of modernity

contrasts with traditional: 1492 vs. 18th and 19th centuries, not exclusively European but in relation to the non-west, therefore a global sensibility, europe/west took itself as the measure for civilization/modern in contrast to the non-west, which was presumed to be primitive/savage

most important contrast between relational and traditional

different origins of modernity that they offer: story of singular European innovation and genius that conveniently hides a whole history of violent conquest, colonization, and enslavement, and a counter narrative that does not ignore/elide that history, centers it as the midwife to the creation of the modern world

another one of dussel’s argument

eurocentric content of modernity also deeply affected the history and shape of western thought, the prejudice at the heart of modernity was naturalized, became part of the fabric of western thought, that is, a species of “common sense” about non-western people and places

Immanuel kant

although brilliant in his epistemological and ethical arguments made serious mistakes in his anthropological reflections

enlightenment means that europe is a fully civilized part of humanity —> reason

view of the divided world

tiny minority of rational, civilized, and modern europeans/westerners (mature) and rest of the world, less rational, savage, and primitive (immature)

hegel

serves as another enlightenment example of the naturalization of the prejudice of modernity

history: is a tracing of the development of “spirit” and the “world spirit” is the standard bearer of humankind at a particular time (the most advanced part of humanity)

best way to measure and distinguish between spirits according to hegel

by looking at two key ideas and how they are practically/concretely expressed: reason and freedom

you determine this by investigating a society’s organization and institutions and see if they allow for the maximal expression of both reason and freedom

hegels conclusion

best social model in human history is the development of the nation-state, which was at the time only found in europe, it represents the “world spirit” at that moment

idea that the west is the universal standard for what it means to be civilized

framing clastres, highlighting two tragic consequences of the “discovery”

genocide, epistemicide: the destruction of other ways of knowing and living (cultural colonization)

two basic assumptions that were taken for granted by western thought in regards to non-western peoples

that non-westerners were primitive (savages or innocent children), lacked reason and culture (civilization), minimal impact on local environment

reality of the neolithic revolution and the “cradle of civilization”

middle east: wheat and barley

south and east Asia: rice and millets

africa: yams and taro

americas: maize and beans (mesoamerica) potatoes (andes)

what does clastres’ work reflect

a moment when a critical shift was occurring in anthropological sholarship

standing has to do with similarities to western norms

all instances are of imperial states with centralized forms of political authority

vast majority of societies, who were not imperial states, simply dismissed as “hunter gatherers” and “substance societies”

this is why clastres focuses on forest tribes of South America, Tupi-guarani, in order to unsettle the worse western assumptions about forest societies, and all amerindians in general

clastres common anthropological assumption of the 1960s

population size: level of political development (civilization)

primitive societies (anthropology) = “restricted societies” (small population size)

division in the study of amerindian South America: clastres

societies of the andes (Inca) and societies of lowlands: plains and jungle

popular prejudice held that all these societies were roughly similar in political and social organization

small pop (no urban center) = limited political development

anthropology assumed that the pop density of lowlands were much smaller than urban centers of andes

scale of depopulation has been miscalculated and presumed to be lower than it was

tupi-guarani (amzonian Brazil and Paraguay): two distinct but allied societies

2 popular characteristics: more power in the position of “chief”, high pop density

population = environment + economy + social structure + cultural level

great political formation + agriculture = large pop

forest societies

hunted and gathered, but were not limited to just that, had expertise in using agriculture wherever possible

clastres describes how some anthropologists argue that even though agriculture may be possible in the region, some tribes choose not to use it “restricted societies”

but clastres denies this, says that this phenomenon is only found in 3 restricted cases in the entirety of South America, its not that people chose to remain restricted, but they had lost the capacity to do agriculture

anthropological pop estimates are on shaky ground and seem low relative to the chroniclers account

forest societies were agricultural, may not have had large pops, prejudice of assuming low pop numbers can’t be used as a starting point, clastres suggests using chroniclers data

there is no accurate way to know the pop total of western hemisphere, but can use Tupi-guarani (chroniclers) as a baseline

island of maranhao is unique

understood as a place of refuge from slavery for indigenous, protection of church, distribution of villages and populations is unusual, hard to generalize

clastres formula

.total number of square miles/ average area of each village (350k/150) = total number of villages (2,340)

total number of villages x the mean of each village (2,340 x 600= 1.404 million)

averages to a population density of 4 to every square km (on Maranhao it was 10)