Black and indigenous rights have expanded over the last few decades, and it was assumed that these identity-based rights would be a platform for anti-racist struggles. However, recent events indicate that new logics of capital accumulation and state control no longer defer to multiculturalism. Correspondingly, we are witnessing new forms of political struggle, which displace identity-based notions of rights with other demands and organizing principles.

The LAIS Spring Conference brings to UCSB the Red de Acción-Investigación Antirracista (RAIAR), a network of civil society organizations and activist scholars from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and US. RAIAR members will discuss current and evolving configurations of racism, anti-racist strategies, and political horizons of indigenous and black peoples in the Americas.