Anthropology Colloquium Series presents: Dr. Florence E. Babb

Dr. Florence Babb, a cultural anthropologist visiting Tulane from UNC at Chapel Hill, will present her most recent work on a book based on ethnographic research in three locations in Peru, where she critically engages racial and gender inequalities, inclusion and exclusion, and national identity. Scaling Differences examines the contradictory meanings of being Andean. Social standing in Peru is measured in inverse proportion to the altitude of one’s origins, with the high Andes having low status and Lima, at sea level, holding the greatest prestige. Ambivalence over social origins is evident at the national level, as Andeanness is embraced as a source of deep cultural heritage, but scorned for its contemporary manifestations, in the rural highlands or transplanted in urban and coastal centers. Geographic mobility is a way in which rural and urban communities push back against longstanding social inequalities.