Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 2
·
November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
153
references are used or ‘silenced’ in
everyday life.
The next two chapters delve into
the main topic of the book: the role of race
in the university system and in Brazilian
society. Chapter four, titled
From Race or
Color to Race and Color,
analyzes the
academic debate about racial policies.
Scholars such as Fry, Maggie and Harris
contribute to the author’s interpretation of
racial categories, distinguishing them from
colour. Race, a word connected with
ancestry, is used emblematically by black
political movements to promote an
operational image of blackness. Colour is
described as a social shifter that changes
depending on what social actors are
involved in interactions in given places and
social spaces. The fifth chapter,
Narrowing
political gaps
, emphasizes the role of
quotas in the development of paths for
personal empowerment. University access
appears, in the words of Cicalo’s
informants, as a door open to social and
economic empowerment, and quotas are
used operationally to achieve this. Cicalo
analyzes the cultural consumption of UERJ
students. The relations between militant
students and others sheds light on personal
paths for social recognition of the new
black identities. These paths involve
reading, as well as a re-socialization to
new social spaces and the use of expensive
clothing.
In
the
conclusion,
Cicalo
recognizes the positive role of quota
policies aimed at black people. The re-
socialization of students to a racially mixed
university and the creation of black élites
are the most important indications of this
success. Moreover, the persistent racial and
social differences in Brazilian society,
indicate that these policies are only a first,
symbolic step in a process that must
continue with other political strategies that
focus on both class and race.
It would be helpful to complement
this analysis with a look at other policies
that are currently shaping Brazil’s racial
geography, such as those involving
Quilombos. Nevertheless, the book offers a
considerable and important contribution to
the debate on quotas in Brazil and is a
good example of urban ethnography. The
choice to focus on students appears to be
successful, considering that they are the
first recipients of this new experiment in
Brazilian society.
Alex Vailati
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina,
Brazil
John. C. Kilburn Jr. and S.E. Costanza
(2011),
Salvation City: Halfway House
Stories.
Youngstown, NY: Teneo Press.
In Salvation City: Halfway House Stories,
John C. Kilburn Jr. and S.E. Costanza offer
ethnographic case studies with historical
analysis to help the reader understand the
place of Halfway Houses in American
society, and call the question of the
usefulness of these institutions towards
achieving stated goals. While the authors
center their discussion of halfway houses
as most directly related to issues of
community autonomy and safety, they
describe the stories of individuals to
elucidate their points.
Through
the
preface
and
introduction, basic information is provided
