Immigration and the Boundaries of Black Political Subjecthood in Argentina and Chile

Abstract

In the last two decades, the Argentine and Chilean states have passed laws and policies targeting Afro-descendant populations. But while Argentine law has institutionalized Afro-descent through a broad notion of African ancestry and African-based culture, the Chilean state has legally defined Afro-descent in relation to a particular history, culture, and identity connected to a long-standing presence in the national territory. In this paper, I examine the role of immigration in explaining how Afro-descendant subjecthood has been legally constructed and institutionalized in each national context. Through archival and interview-based research, I analyze how classification struggles within each Afro-descendant movement and between Afro-descendant activists and the state frame claims and strategies for legal inclusion, ultimately impacting how the boundaries of Afro-descent are defined and institutionalized in each national context. Immigrants’ early participation within the Afro-Argentine movement promoted heterogenous political framings, but feelings of threat drove some Afro-Argentine activists to emphasize nativist claims. This has produced a diversity of legislation and policies that target different populations, including immigrants—what I refer to as a “transnational-racial” model. In Chile, immigrants have not participated prominently in the Afro-descendant movement, but they have been present in the imaginaries of activists and state officials debating legislative and policy measures. Afro-Chileans’ political success requires not being seen as foreigners by state officials, driving them to emphasize their national belonging. Thus, Black subjecthood has been institutionalized targeting Afro-Chileans who share a common history and culture while excluding immigrants—what I refer to as a “national-ethnic” model.