This article leverages a phenomenon of racial reclassification in Brazil to shed new light on the processes of identity politicization. Conventional wisdom tells us that race mixture, fluid racial boundaries, and stigmatized blackness lead Brazilians to change their racial identifications—to reclassify—toward whiteness. But in recent years, Brazilians have demonstrated a newfound tendency to reclassify toward blackness. The author argues that this sudden reversal is the unintended consequence of state-led educational expansion for the lower classes. Educational expansion has increased the exposure of newly mobile citizens to information, social networks, and the labor market, leading many to develop racialized political identities and choose blackness. The author develops and tests this argument by drawing on in-depth interview data, systematic analyses of national survey and longitudinal census data, and original survey experiments. This article contributes a novel account of identity politicization and emphasizes the interaction between social structures and citizenship institutions in these processes.

中文翻译：

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种族重新分类和政治认同的形成

本文利用巴西的种族重新分类现象来阐明身份政治化的过程。传统智慧告诉我们，种族混合、流动的种族界限和被污名化的黑人导致巴西人将他们的种族认同——重新分类——转向白人。但近年来，巴西人表现出一种重新归类为黑人的新趋势。作者认为，这种突然的逆转是国家主导的下层阶级教育扩张的意外结果。教育扩张增加了新流动公民对信息、社交网络和劳动力市场的接触，导致许多人发展出种族化的政治身份并选择黑人。作者通过深入采访数据来发展和测试这一论点，国家调查和纵向普查数据的系统分析，以及原始调查实验。本文对身份政治化提出了新的解释，并强调了在这些过程中社会结构和公民制度之间的相互作用。