Raising Two Fists
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Raising Two Fists is a historically grounded ethnography of Afro-Colombian political mobilization after the multicultural turn that swept Latin America in the 1990s, when states began to recognize and legally enshrine rights for Afro-descendants. Roosbelinda Cárdenas explores three major strategies that Afro-Colombians' developed in their struggles against racialized dispossession—the defense of culturally specific livelihoods through the creation of Black Territories; the demand for differential reparations for Afro-Colombian war victims; and the fight for inclusion in Colombia's peace negotiations and post-conflict rebuilding—illustrating how they engage in this work both as participants of organized political movements and in their everyday lives.
Although rights-based claims to the state have become necessary and pragmatic tools in the intersecting struggles for racial, economic, and social justice, Cárdenas argues that they continue to be ineffective due to Colombia's entrenched colonial racial hierarchies. She shows that while Afro-Colombians pursue rights-based claims, they also forge African Diasporic solidarities and protect the flourishing of their lives outside of the frame of rights, and with or without the state's sanction—a "two-fisted" strategy for Black citizenship.
—Francia Márquez, Vice-President of Colombia
"Raising Two Fists offers a necessary corrective to the lingering ideas of multiculturalism and mestizaje and locates these discussions on systemic gendered racism in a Black diasporic perspective on rights, autonomy, and citizenship. Cárdenas makes a strong argument that Afro-Colombian diasporic knowledge and politics informs constructions of Black Colombians as part of a global Black community always engaged in struggle."
—Keisha-Khan Y. Perry, The University of Pennsylvania
"Cárdenas's brilliant analysis wonderfully combines national and diasporic frames to reveal how black Colombians confront anti-black racism and genocidal violence; and how they work with, and go beyond, a politics of victimhood in their struggle to gain full—but also Black—citizenship and to vivir sabroso—live without fear."
—Peter Wade, University of Manchester
"Raising Two Fists is undoubtedly positioned to become a reference within the debate on Blackness and multiculturalism. It is a must-read text for anyone interested in understanding the strange trajectory of rights-based politics and the unique position of Black people within state-led multicultural strategies of contention."—Jaime A. Alves, Journal of Development Studies
"This is a closely argued, sophisticated, and highly nuanced analysis that successfully captures the complexity of its subject matter. Highly recommended."—S. D. Glazier, CHOICE
"This book is essential for understanding, through the voices of leaders of Black communities, how structural racism operates in the Global South, particularly in Colombia. Cárdenas's work provides a crucial perspective on the ongoing struggle for rights and recognition among Black Colombians, illustrating the deep-seated and pervasive nature of racial inequalities and their impact on the lives and aspirations of Afro-Colombian communities. Another essential part of her analysis focuses on well-being, identifying dreams and aspirations beyond pain, constant threats, and systematic violence."—Glenda Palacios-Quejada, Journal of Latin American Geography
"Cárdenas' book is a comprehensive discussion of the contradiction between the Colombian multicultural turn, marked by the 1991 constitution and Law 70 of 1993, and the reality of violence and governmental neglect that Afro-Colombians face on an everyday basis."—Migdalia Arcila-Valenzuela, Social Movement Studies
