Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book carries the term schooling, and want to be clear that author understand this process as something distinct from education. The author argues that in contemporary Latin American contexts, it is vital to consider the ways theories of "new racism" might inform our understanding of indigenous identity formation and schooling. The book refers to racialisation as the process of hierarchically categorising people into specific groupings whose defining features are thought to be predetermined by biological or cultural characteristics. New racism is one lens for interpreting contemporary forms of racialisation, and why the abundant evidence for structural inequalities is not recognised as such. The book also owes much to the theoretical richness that has emerged from work on new racism, but author apply it to the very different circumstances of Chilean schools.