The Role of Eugenics and Mestizaje in the Production of Race in Mexico

Abstract

The core objective of this project is to challenge a typical conception of nation building in Mexico and show how disparate approaches to Mexico’s state-building moment feed into one another to create the history and legacy of race in Mexico. In exploring this concept, I suggest that we reflect on the nation-building moment as the point of origin to understand present-day racial politics. Through an exploration of the nation-building moment, I describe eugenics and mestizaje as ideological movements that helped to shape how ‘race’ in Mexico has been historically conceived. In adding to the historical narrative as disseminated by political elites during the Mexican revolution, I discuss why the ‘racial’ politics of present-day society are not ‘post-racial.’ Furthermore, I demonstrate how nationalism and racism were inextricably linked in Mexico’s nation-building project despite the seemingly ‘race neutral’ language of the Mexican government. Lastly, I analyze art in the way that it signifies Mexican identity through cultural consolidation and discuss how artistic critiques concretely problematize the elite narrative.