Carcere publico : processos de exotização entre imigrantes brasileiros no Porto, Portugal

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2003

RESUMO

This case study aims at understanding the reconstruction of a national identity based on the exacerbation of exotic traits in the everyday life of lower c1ass Brazilian immigrants in the city of Porto, Portugal. The analysis brings to light the processes by which these immigrants try to fit into the prevailing stereotypes in Portugal about Brazilians as an "exotic people": "happy , "nice , "sensual" and scoundrel. These exotic traits are induced to, and at the same time, actively produced by them. Given the differing forms of c1assifying otherness in Brazil and Portugal, the end result is an inversion of the racial orders. This inversion enables non-white immigrants - who have tended to confront discrimination in Brazil - to take advantage of the Portuguese racial hierarchy and attain leadership positions in the networks of exchanges and solidarity formed within the so- called "Brazilian community". Hence, the main leaders involved in the power contests are those who suit better the existing stereotypes in Portugal about Brazil and Brazilians. In order to explain the dynamics between the formation of "exotic" identities and centrality, I suggest a notion of identity that takes into account the commodity value of difference rather than the construction of difference per se. Based on this case study on the Brazilians in the city of Porto, largue that this notion of an identity-for- the market - that is to say, identity as a commodity- emerges as a form of production of subjectivities in this era of flexible capital accumulation

ASSUNTO(S)

identidade brasileiros - portugal imigrantes - portugal antropologia relações sociais

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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