Status

Bernd Reiter is Professor of political science and Luso-Latin American Studies, working for the department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literature at Texas Tech University. He is the editor of Routledge’s Decolonizing the Classics book series. He is a specialist in democracy, race, and decolonization, with over 30 years of experience conducting empirical research in Latin America, Africa, and Western Europe. He has published over 20 books and 70 articles to date and served on the Ph.D. and M.A. committees of close to 100 students. He has held visiting positions at Harvard, the Barcelona Institute for International Studies, the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil), the Universidad del Norte (Colombia), the Free University of Berlin, and the University of Kassel (both in Germany). In 2024, he served as a Fulbright Specialist for the Federal University of São Paulo and in 2022 as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Public Policy in Recife. Reiter is the recipient of the Outstanding Alum award, as well as several other awards and recognitions, such as the Outstanding Mentor Award, from the Florida Education Fund.

• Introduction: Understanding Racism and Exclusion in Latin America. PART I: Theory Chapter 1: Reality and Analytical Categories Chapter 2: The Theory of Status in Tönnies, Weber, and Elias Chapter 3: Whiteness as a Symbolic Racial Capital PART II: Brazil Chapter 4: Status in Brazil through the Lens of Five Brazilian Classics: Guerreiro Ramos, Raymundo Faoro, Florestan Fernandes, Jacob Gorender, and João José Reis Chapter 5: The Historical Construction of Privilege via Exclusion: Bacharelismo and the State Chapter 6: Performing Whiteness in Brazil Chapter 7: Language, Education, and the Habitus of Privilege Chapter 8: Status through Servitude PART III: Beyond Brazil Chapter 9: Hispanic America: Buying Whiteness: Gracias al Sacar General Conclusions: Rethinking Status in Latin America and Its Global Implications. Epilogue