Developing an Empirical Model of Race and Racism in Venezuela

Background and purpose.  Race is a key concept in studies of health and mental health disparities, but one that requires careful attention to avoid reification.  Race operates in complicated and nuanced ways over space and time. With the right methodological tools, it is possible to reconstruct race as it is conceptualized in a particular society, while also considering the ways that individuals interpret and negotiate such categories in their daily lives.  In this presentation, I develop an empirical model of Venezuelan racial categories and the ways that they are linked to cultural values.  Method: Data were collected during a multi-phased ethnographic study that took place in Caracas, Venezuela between 2005 and 2007.  Participants in the overall study included 499 women and men between the ages of 18 and 65, stratified by race and class. Data collection comprised several research activities: a) cultural domain analysis; b) structured and semi-structured qualitative interviews; and c) multi-sited participant observation.  Results. In Venezuela, race referred to a flexible system of classifying both oneself and others according to gradients in phenotypic characteristics, such as skin color, hair texture, fullness of lips and nose shape. Racial categories were defined predominantly according to gradients in skin color, ranging from white (blanco) to black (negro), with a number of skin color variations in between. Because racial categorization in Venezuela relied a great deal on assessments of phenotype, evaluations of physical appearance created new spaces of exclusion and marginalization for those whose bodies deviated from an aesthetic ideal.  Participants noted that modern-day constructs of race reflected historical patterns of colonization and racial oppression. For example, physical features that were associated with whiteness were imbued with positive meanings, while those that were associated with other skin colors were portrayed in a negative light.  However, the ubiquity of race-based oppression did not suggest passive acceptance of subordinate status by marginalized individuals—political and social action have been directed at eliminating de facto racism.  Conclusion and implications. In Venezuela, constructs of race are historically embedded in a national heritage that has prioritized light skin and European physical features. Within such a context, race operates as a cultural and political script to justify the symbolic or structural domination of certain groups by others. Ultimately, the analysis of racial categorization is by no means a straightforward matter: it requires recognition of the historical and structural dimensions of race, while appreciating how difference and power are played out in particular contexts. Researchers working in international contexts must use caution when trying to understand racial dynamics because systems of racial classification often operate differently outside the United States. Cultural domain analysis can be used to develop a cultural model for racial classification to display how individuals conceptualize racial categories, whereas in-depth qualitative interviews provide an avenue to explore how a person interprets, incorporates, and navigates such categories in different social arenas.