Resumo

SARRAZIN MARTINEZ, Jean Paul. The protection of cultural diversity: reflexions on its origins and implications. Justicia [online]. 2015, n.27, pp.99-117. ISSN 0124-7441.  https://doi.org/10.17081/just.3.27.322.

The first part of this paper presents a historical outline of how racial and cultural alterity (particularly indigeneity) has been imagined and represented by elites in Colombia since the nineteenth century. The evolution of these ideas takes us to the contemporary category of "ethnic groups" and its representation in positive terms, a process that signifies a substantial change compared to past discourses in favour of cultural homogeneity. The second part of this text reflects on the ways in which ethnic policies are legitimized -today more than ever- through the principle of "the protection of cultural boundaries", a principle which is widely praised and uncontested, but which has become totally dependent on problematic concepts such as "cultural damage", "authenticity" or "preservation". Furthermore, the institutional actions based on that principle are actually uncertain, ambiguous and inefficient, a situation that invites us to question the "policies for diversity".

Palavras-chave : Alterity; Cultural boundaries; Cultural diversity; Identity and Social policies.

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