Mestizos/Mestizas

The Historical and Contemporary Exclusion of Latin People from the American Identity, 2019

For some, the problem with the Spanish term Latino is that it favors an androcentric (male-centered) approach to name this collective (Vidal-Ortiz and Martínez 2018). There is no denying that LGBTQ and trans individuals of color face multiple simultaneous exclusions. So, there is a debate about whether to write Latino/a/x, Latino@, Latine, Latinex, or LatinX. I hereby propose the use of the term Latin people. It keeps the references to a series of people related to their current or former use of Spanish and/or Portuguese as Romance languages derived from the Latin language. But unlike the Spanish versions of the word, which attribute gender and number, in English Latin can be used to describe single, plural, and all genders. Therefore, it is not only less sexist and more inclusive than Latino, but it is also within the parameters of common English spellings, characters, and grammar. Furthermore, I use Latin as an adjective and not as a noun. This way, it does not carry a number or gender. This way a person is not “a Latin,” but rather “a Latin person” because someone is a person first and Latin second. Latin is used as a modifier rather than as a term denoting an all-encompassing ontology around a nebulous cultural categorization. Past geographical place of residence or family origin should not be used as the most important ontological characteristic of a person or group. There is no reason why origin or ethnicity should be characterized as more primordial than humanity or other traits. Thus, I talk about Latin people or peoples in order to be inclusive of different gender and sexual orientations of individuals as well as differences by physical appearance, disability, age, and national origin. The context makes it clear that we are not talking about the Latin language.

Terminology, 1996

Sociological Inquiry, 2012

This article analyzes varying, inconsistent, representations of ''mestizaje'' (generally construed as racial or cultural mixing in the Americas) deriving from different historical settings and ideological frameworks. It particularly focuses on what I here term ''old mestizaje,'' summarized in the writings of Latin American intellectuals of the first quarter of the twentieth century, such as Mexican philosopher Jose ´Vasconcelos (The Cosmic Race); and ''new mestizaje,'' articulated in the works of such contemporary thinkers as Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldu ´a (Borderlands ⁄ La Frontera: The New Mestiza). The center piece of the article is the contradictions and fractures between old and new discourses in terms of their underlying views of race, identity, and ''destiny.'' It examines the links of old mestizaje with essentialist, Social Darwinist, concepts, and the foundations of new mestizaje on a critical cultural studies paradigm. I propose that various aspects of old mestizaje infused hegemonic racial ideologies throughout Latin America and engendered a form of ''color blindness'' that obscured pervasive racial inequalities in the region.

A Companion to Latin American …, 2010

Encyclopedia of the Incas , 2015

Encyclopedia of the Incas edited by Gary Urton and Adriana Von Hagen. Rowman and Littlefield. 2015

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013

This paper focuses on identifying which elements encapsulated in dictionary examples are the most helpful in aiding users to fully understand entry definitions. Specifically, out of 16 examples analyzed in two entries found in two recently published Mexican Spanish dictionaries (selected from a sample of 68 entries), 11 have been identified as failing in their main purpose: to accurately illustrate the definitions they accompany. Despite the development of lexicographic methodologies, no precise, welldefined parameters have been established on the choice or creation of effective, useful examples. The examples in this study were analyzed according to criteria based on corpus linguistics.

sandionisiozapotec.webonary.org, 2014

Th e societal evolution since the last decades of 20th century until recently has called for and brought a number of signifi cant political terms into popular usage. Th is article off ers the overview of some relevant new terms, neologisms, in Spanish and the English language, as well as those terms that have acquired new meaning over the given period. Th e researched terms are subdivided into categories related to spheres of general government policy, environmental policy and family policy. Th e profound impact of new technologies in the confi guration of current societies through its terminology is also covered. Th e background political and social context is given for the full understanding of designated concepts.

Translated by Catherine Jagoe.