Dreaming of a cosmic race: José Vasconcelos and the politics of race in Mexico, 1920s–1930s

Abstract

This paper examines the role of Mexican philosopher, José Vasconcelos, in consolidating mestizaje (racial and cultural mixture) as the national ideology through a textual analysis of his essay, “La raza cósmica” (The Cosmic Race), his educational magazine, “El Maestro” (The Teacher), and other writings. The paper takes on a historical approach to explore how Vasconcelos’ ideas on mixture circulated within the culture at large, influenced the eugenics and education movements, and helped shape the politics of race, culture, and social engineering in early twentieth-century Mexico in order to account for what persists in the present.

Keywords

• eugenics
• science
• education
• race
• culture
• hybridity
• mestizaje
• history
• mexico
• latin america