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Blackness Without Ethnicity: Constructing Race in Brazil, by Livio Sansone. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. 248 pp. $59-95 cloth. ISBN: 0-312-9374-7. $18.95 paper. ISBN: 0-312-9375-5.
Blackness Without Ethnicity is an analysis of race in Brazil, but it is not just another runof-the mill study of Brazilian race relations. Academics have become familiar, by now, with comparative studies that juxtapose patterns of race in that country and the United States. These studies are important and revealing, especially because they have helped internationalize theorizing about race. They have underlined the point that, though often taken as a standard for the rest of the world, American racial patterns are in many ways sui generis. However, if only because of their number and familiarity, BrazilianAmerican comparisons can seem clichéd and lose their ability to illuminate. Blackness Without Ethnicity avoids this trap and adds fresh insight on Brazilian society, theories of race, and the meaning of "blackness" in an age of increasing globalization.
Sansone's argument revolves around notions of blackness in northeastern Brazil, with its high proportion of individuals of African ancestry. In seven chapters, he outlines theoretical issues, shows how blackness is practiced, discusses how images of Africa impact Brazilian society, and, crucially, analyzes how international black culture strongly influences perceptions...