While prejudice against indigenous Peruvians is an unmistakable reality, it is hard to determine the nature of ethnic identity. There is no clear relationship in Peru between ethnic identity and markers of language or race. There is therefore little mobilisation along ethnic grounds compared to Bolivia, Ecuador and Guatemala – countries with similar histories.

All Peruvians are highly attuned to the consequences of ethnicity. A paper from the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE) at the University of Oxford, in the UK, explores concepts of ethnicity in Peru, and how being indigenous, ‘mestizo’ (of mixed European and non-European parentage) or ‘white’ (of European parentage) translates into opportunity – or the lack of it. Interviews were carried out in two highland (Sierra) locations and also in the capital, Lima, where 30 percent of Peruvians now live.

In one of the highland locations an early, intense process of intermarriage with European migrants (‘mestizaje’) has had an impact on ethnic characteristics. The Quechua language has largely disappeared from the region and people with lighter skin predominate. In the other highland region, ‘mestizaje’ has been less extreme and Quechua and indigenous traditions, forms of dress and social organisation remain.

Speaking Quechua does not necessarily determine ethnic identity, as Quechua speakers are found across all self-defined ethnic categories. Whites have the lowest percentage of Quechua speakers, while mestizos have a higher percentage and indigenous Peruvians often speak it as a mother tongue.

Key findings from the interviews include:

• Over half of those interviewed consider that the importance of racial and cultural characteristics for accessing job and educational opportunities has not changed or has become even more important in the last years, especially in the private sector.
• Indigenous Peruvians are discriminated against in schools because of the difference in their clothing and their lack of fluency in Spanish; poor peasant parents often oppose bilingual education as they want their children to learn Spanish to escape from the ‘Indian’ stigma.
• Moving to or living in Lima raises self-awareness of ethnic traits, particularly skin colour.
• In Lima there is widespread prejudice against all ‘serranos’ (those from the Sierra); for the Lima underclass the ‘Sierra’ becomes the common ‘place of origin’ for indigenous people.
• In rural areas power is seen to be in the hands of whites and mestizos while in Lima all agree that whites alone dominate government and business.
• Many white and mestizo respondents are highly prejudiced against indigenous Peruvians.

The author suggests it is important to:

• bring the topic of ethnic/racial prejudice into the public arena
• understand the processes which lead young people to have low self-esteem and to be ashamed of their own culture and ethnic origins
• challenge the myth that exclusively individual dedication and educational attainment will save marginalised peoples from the humiliation they face at the hands of others
• confront the corruption and weaknesses of the Peruvian political system.

Source(s):
‘Fluid Identities: Exploring Ethnicity in Peru’, CRISE Working Paper No. 40, Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, University of Oxford: Oxford, by Maritza Paredes, 2007 (PDF)
www.crise.ox.ac.uk/pubs/workingpaper40.pdf

id21 Research Highlight: 19 march

Further Information:
Maritza Paredes
Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity
Queen Elizabeth House
University of Oxford
Mansfield Rd
Oxford OX1 3TB, UK

Tel: +44 1865 281810
Fax: +44 1865 281801
Contact the contributor: maritza.paredesgonzales@sant.ox.ac.uk

Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, UK

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