Graziella Silva

Graduate Student in Sociology

Biographical Note

Graziella Silva received her B.A. in social sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, 1998). She got her Masters degree in Anthropology and Sociology at the same university, getting her degree in 2000. Her Master thesis, on the relationship between social sciences and public policies, was published as a book in Brazil in 2003. Between 2000 and 2003 she joined various research projects focusing on urban inequality and education policies. In 2003 Graziella joined the Sociology PhD program at Harvard University. She wrote her qualification paper comparing race-based affirmative action in Brazil and South Africa, and is currently working on her dissertation project, which compares racial and class identities of black professionals in these two countries.

10/23/2007

Research Interests

Comparative Race Relations, Race and Class Dynamics, Human Rights, Culture and Public Policies, Brazil.

Previous Degrees

BA in Social Sciences from UFRJ (Brazil); MA in Sociology and Anthropology UFRJ (Brazil)

Qualifying Paper Title

Acculturated Policies: Affirmative Action in Brazil and South Africa

Abstract

In this paper I compare race-targeted affirmative action policies in higher education in Brazil and South Africa. A few questions guide this comparison. Why are countries with completely different racial structures and histories currently implementing similar policies to address racial inequality? And, more specifically, why did Brazil – a country with historically less rigid racial boundaries than South Africa – implement a more radical form of affirmative action than South Africa? How do these different national understandings of race influence the implementation and debates about race-targeted affirmative action? And, maybe more importantly, how do these “imported” policies influence the above mentioned national contexts?

Contact

617-496-5794 (FAX)

643 William James Hall
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138