Racial Ideologies and Ethnoracial Social Inclusion Policy in Mexico and Peru

My study examines the covariation of racial ideologies and ethnoracial social inclusion policies with ethnoracial identity in Peru and Mexico. I begin by studying the history and evolution of racial ideologies in Latin America generally and then in Mexico and Peru more specifically. I use this research to help guide and inform my bivariate tabular analysis of data collected by the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA). From the PERLA survey questionnaires for Mexico and Peru, I choose questions pertaining to ethnoracial identity and attitudes towards specific social inclusion policies and racial ideologies. I measure the covariation of ethnoracial social inclusion policies and racial ideologies with ethnoracial identity to determine how highly supported they are in contemporary Mexico and Peru and, consequently, if the “shift” from mestizaje to multiculturalism is as prominent as the literature suggest. If there has been a shift to recognition of the multicultural nature of society that is unique from the mestizaje narratives of the past that has consequently led to the development and adoption of ethnoracial social inclusion policies in Latin America, the data should show high levels of support for ethnoracial social inclusion policies and low levels of support of mestizaje ideals. I control for ethnoracial identity to compensate for any variation in attitude between ethnoracial groups. My study results will hopefully provide greater insight into support for ethnoracial social inclusion policies as linked to the historical patterns of racial ideologies