Introduction: lasting and resurgent racism after recognition in Latin America

This special issue examines and theorizes lasting and resurgent forms of racism after recognition and claims to decolonization in Latin America. It also analyses what the authors interpret as a retrenchment in indigenous and Afro-descendant rights. The authors argue that this shift is underpinned by factors including extractivism, aided by the ability of neoliberal multiculturalism to shape, weaken and co-opt popular movements, and launched by a backlash by elites in conjunction with actors from dominant groups rendered vulnerable by global capitalism, who have turned to populism and racial scapegoating as a reaction to increased precarity. The issue shows that the circumscription of indigenous and Afro-descendant rights manifests itself both in novel ways and as entrenched colonial practices and traditions. Moreover, the issue explores the cultures and geographies of extractivism, specifically as it relates to race and racism. The issue moves forward critiques of neoliberal multiculturalism by arguing for the need to challenge racist hierarchies instead of only focusing on difference, and by looking at discrimination and the rearticulation of racism in left leaning post-neoliberal regimes ostensibly committed to decolonizing reforms. The articles in this issue highlight the importance of interrogating cultures of power while also conducting sound ethnography at the margins. These strategies allow the authors to question the appropriation and ventriloquist use of ethnic markers and agendas by elites.