About the presentation: Brazil has been widely lauded as the best place in the world for refugees. Yet its celebrated policies veil how racism shapes the everyday politics of asylum. “The Color of Asylum” follows asylum seekers as they navigate the refugee regime—from how they arrive in Brazil, through the steps of applying for asylum and seeking assistance, to their lives after refugee status. Racialized hierarchies are produced through bureaucratic practices and encounters, as the state variably incorporates refugees into a deeply unequal racial political order. In the process, refugees learn what it means to be black—or not—in Brazil. With its rare ethnographic access inside the state, “The Color of Asylum” exposes the limits of refugee status, the everyday workings of the racial state, and how racism and immigration are mutually imbricated in contemporary Brazil.
About the presenter: Katherine Jensen is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Studies at UW-Madison. She researches immigration and racial hierarchies in Latin America, with a focus on Brazil and the Southern Cone. She is a former Fulbright Fellow and P.E.O. Scholar. She is author of the award-winning book “The Color of Asylum” published by University of Chicago Press.
