The pardo as the rights-bearing subject of racial quotas: comparing hetero-identification processes

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic and comparative analysis of the racial hetero-identification procedures adopted by two Brazilian federal universities, whose methodologies differ significantly from one another. Based on interviews with administrators, descriptions of institutional practices, and an analysis of institutional documents, we examine how racial categories are progressively constituted and operationalized in these processes, with particular attention to the different derivations of the category pardo, such as “Indigenous-pardo,” “white-pardo,” and “Black-pardo.” The analysis shows that the principles mobilized in hetero-identification procedures do not merely verify racial belonging, but also produce, within each institution, distinct definitions of the rights-bearing subject of quotas intended for Black and pardo applicants. We conclude that the methodological differences observed also imply distinct ways of understanding racial mixture, racial belonging, and the criteria of legitimacy governing access to affirmative action policies.