The Politics of Blackness employs a mixed method design (that is, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies) to explore both race as a concept and the theory that race is the key determinant of Afro-Brazilian political behavior. Mitchell-Walthour engages in an ethnographic analysis, featuring an eleven-point complexion scale, original survey response collection, secondary survey data analysis, original interviews, and secondary interview data analysis, statistical analysis, featuring logistic regression analysis and multinomial regression analysis.
Mitchell-Walthour used topographical data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics to randomize selections of Brazilian respondents for the in-depth interviews, and to identify the Census racial and colorist identification designators. Her analysis of prior ethnographic studies served as a means of identifying Brazilian views on race: there is a dichotomous perception of race, i.e. there are Blacks and Whites, that is, with respect to colorism, many splintered on the negro side, but whole and indivisible on the branco side.
Throughout the text, Mitchell-Walthour uses the aforementioned methods and analyses to test the following hypotheses: dark skinned Afro-Brazilians with higher income levels and educational attainment who experience discrimination will identify as preto more often than light skinned Afro-Brazilians with lower income levels and educational attainments who do not experience discrimination; Afro-Brazilians who perceive the concept of a negro-linked fate as reality will be likelier to support affirmative action; Afro-Brazilians with higher income levels and educational attainment who perceive the concept of a negro-linked fate as reality will be likelier to support public education on Afro-Brazilian history; and Afro-Brazilians with higher income levels and educational attainment who perceive the negro-linked fate concept as reality will be likelier to support the appointment of negroes to political positions by the president. The focus on engaging Brazilian perceptions of race, color, intersectionality, politics, group attachment, and self-identification yielded an insightful challenge of the theory that North American and Latin American conceptions of race are converging – the methodologies helped to make clear how unique the Brazilian case is.
I think you understand the context of what Mitchell and Gladys are attempting to do in how they interpret and analyze the issue of race in Brazil. To go further, I would talk about how they also discussed the difference between Males vs. Females, and how that determined if they would identify as negro or not. I think you provide a good overview of the general method of how the authors conducted their study, but in Chapter 2 it does discuss in length the differences between how women and men respond to being negro. I think including this aspect as another variable to consider when understanding how Mitchell and Gladys conducted their study would aid in comprehending their methodology.
Thanks for the reply! I could certainly give more attention to how Mitchell-Walthour assesses gender in her intersectional analysis, as that was a major point of emphasis for her. Appreciate that!