Essay about Racist Positivism in Latin America - 1177 Words

The mutability of the postcolonial relationship between Indians and the republics becomes most apparent after 1850. The ideals of liberty and equality went astray in the late nineteenth century being destabilized by an upswing of another form political policy, liberalism. This liberalism was interwoven with racism and sexism, and colored by positivist interpretations of science, society and knowledge that were becoming common currency in Western Europe. In order to understand the reaction to liberal policies of native populations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, it is important to focus on the scientific method that was applied to social phenomenon at the time. These new urban elites embraced the scientific†¦show more content†¦The elites believed themselves to be closer to the progressive goal of European whiteness and that the lower classes did not have the racial purity necessary to participate in national progress. The theory of scientific racism was also used to justify the heavy handed, often violent treatment of the peasant population. After all, the theory of positivism contended that the peasants were a lower race, and justified exploitation under the guise of supervision and regulation. Positivism was especially suited to reform because of its practical, disciplinary, and authoritarian inclinations (Larson p.64). The elites plan to transform the republic into a better nation was part of a large r plan to put themselves on the same progressive track as other European nations. The Creole elite of Colombia were the first among the Andean republics to associate economic retardation with the concept of racial weakness (Larson p.75). The convergence of postcolonial concepts of class and race were used to blame poverty and misery on the victim, through fault of their inferior race (Larson p.81). In Colombia, the liberal elites plan to transform society into a more progressive state was to gradually blend any kind of indigenous or African race with white European immigrants, therefore whitening the population as a whole. The main source of the whitening population was to come from European immigrants brought in to fill the gap left by theShow MoreRelatedRevolutionary Changes in the Atlantic World, 1750–185010951 Words   |  44 PagesEuropean powers intensified in the early 1600s as the Dutch Attacked Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas and in Asia. In the 1600s and 1700s the British then checked Dutch commercial and colonial ambitions and went on to defeat France in the Seven Years War (1756–1763) and take over French colonial possessions in the Americas and in India. 2. The unprecedented costs of the wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries droveRead MoreCRM 1301 Midterm uOttawa Carolyn Gordon Essay10218 Words   |  41 PagesThe word witchcraft has been used to dismiss cultural traditions around the world. The Society of the Alejo (Brazil): for generations, the traditions of their African ancestors were kept alive. Women who practiced rituals like the Alejo in Africa/America were called heathens and were persecuted as witches. They are called witch-doctors and charlatans. Modern doctors are beginning to re-examine the healing power of the human spirit. European healers who were burned relied on Christian faith whenRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesappear on appropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2011, 2007, 2005, 2002, 1998 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying