Scaling proximity to whiteness: Racial boundary-making on São Tomé Island

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Racial Studies
• Linguistic Anthropology

Background:

• Santomean society has historically organized racial groups since colonial times.
• Communicative practices play a crucial role in the production and stabilization of social scales.
• The Forros and the Portuguese language hold distinct and prestigious statuses within this society.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how communicative practices produce, stabilize, and challenge social scales.
• To analyze how these scales organize racial groups in Santomean society.
• To investigate the relationship between scaling practices, the status of the Forros, and the prestige of the Portuguese language.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of historical and contemporary communicative practices.
• Examination of linguistic and social prestige.
• Exploration of the concept of 'imagined proximity to whiteness'.

Main Results:

• Distinctive scaling practices influence the status of the Forros and the Portuguese language.
• The Forros' perceived proximity to whiteness confers racial privilege.
• This proximity enables the Forros to maintain social and political power.

Conclusions:

• Communicative practices are central to the construction and maintenance of racial hierarchies.
• The concept of 'imagined proximity to whiteness' is a key mechanism for racial privilege in Santomean society.
• Understanding these scaling practices is essential for comprehending Santomean social and political dynamics.