Demandas de autenticidad: deseo, ambivalencia y racismo en el Chile multicultural

Abstract

This article aims to characterize the production and the creation of value of ethnic/ racial otherness in the context of neoliberal multiculturalism in Chile based on a theoretical work around the concepts of otherness, representation, ambivalence and authenticity. From this perspective and through qualitative methods, we will analyze three concrete examples framed in research projects: the ethno-enterprise, domestic labor and the allegoric-bodies of tradition. Our main analysis result is that the demands for authenticity perceived by subjects marked as Others in Chile display a demand to correctly act or perform a role, which in spite of being stereotyped, may or not be appropriated by the Others. Our proposal concludes stating the following thesis: the demands for authenticity constitute the crystallization of contemporary racism in Chile.