Racial identity and nationalism: a theoretical view from Latin America

The empirical intersection of ideas about race and nation are well-established, but theoretical explanations for this are less developed. Some ideas are advanced about how and why ideologies of race, nation, gender and sexuality intertwine. This leads on to a consideration of the tensions between sameness and difference that are argued to be constitutive of national identities. From here, an argument is developed about dynamics of appropriation and the maintenance of hegemony in racially diverse and multicultural nations. These theoretical ideas are illustrated with material from Latin America, particularly Colombia, with reference to Colombian popular music as an important cultural form in nationalist expression.