Title not available in English.

Abstract

Census categories and subjective classification of race in Brazil. A great variety of terms and a high degree of subjectivity are involved in the definition of skin colour among Brazilians. This article seeks to evaluate the different classification schemes adopted in various moments by IBGE to identify "colour" in censuses and National Household Sample Surveys (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - PNAD). We first examine the answers to open-ended questions and to standardized categories in these surveys and censuses and secondly, estimate the "net migration” among colour groups between 1950 and 1980 for persons who, in 1950, were classified as "pretas" (blacks), "pardas" (mixed ancestry) and "brancas” (whites). The cohort projections indicated a significant "net out-migration” or reclassification of both "branca" and "preta" persons to the "parda" group between 1950 and 1980. Thirty eight percent of persons classified as "pretas" in 1950 were reclassified in 1980 in another group, whereas 7% of "brancas" were missing for that category in the 1980 census. The "parda" category increased by 34% due to the "net migration" among colour groups. These results indicate that researchers working on racial inequality, and specially those developing comparative studies of social mobility using census data should proceed with caution when dealing with racial group differences.