Racism and Discourse: A Portrayal of the Argentinean Situation

CORINA COURTIS,; DIANA LENTON; MARÍA INÉS PACECCA; CARLOS BELVEDERE; GERARDO HALPERN; SERGIO CAGGIANO

Discursive Racisms in Latin America

Lexington

Lugar: New York; Año: 2008; p. 13 - 56

Our research analyzes the discursive operations that racialize diversity in contemporary Argentina. These operations are grounded on the dominating and hegemonic narrative of the Nation weaved during the 19th century, which proposed, supported and legitimized the need for political intervention on race and culture in order to achieve civilization and progress, and turn the desert into a Nation as well as the territory into a republic. The first part of this chapter examines certain historical aspects of the process that led to a Nation-State, within the expected transition from barbarism to civilization. We analyze the rise of a classifying matrix founded on the opposing propositions of Indigenous Peoples vs. European immigrants, the underlying logic of which is still active in the dynamics of dominant contemporary classification. The second part focuses on the contemporary hegemonic discourses that structure meaningful social categories within the national matrix of otherness: indigenous peoples, internal migrants, immigrants from neighbouring countries and immigrants from East Asia. Finally, we summarize some specific aspects of local discursive racism, underscoring both its potential for producing political effects of exclusion and for hindering the emergence of voices with the necessary legitimacy to act in the public sphere.