La diferencia cultural en cuestión. Una crítica a los estudios culturales latinoamericanos a la luz de las investigaciones del mundo popular urbano

Zusammenfassung

The objective of the current research project is to analyse how cultural diversity in Latin America has been approached from the social research and thought of the region, with a special focus on so called Latin-American cultural studies. What conceptual constructions have been proposed to account for the sociocultural heterogeneity that exists in Latin America? How have the processes of exchange, imposition, coexistence and sociocultural imbrication been understood? To what extend do the categories elaborated fit the cultural crossing processes that operate in the time of globalization? Finally, to what extent are these categories capable of accounting for the framings of inequality, asymmetry and conflict within which these cultural interactions actually take place? These are some of the questions that will be explored throughout the present research. In order to account for these problematics, key debates initiated from within Latin-American social and human sciences will be traversed and assessed finally arriving at the canonical proposals of Néstor García Canclini, Jesús Martín Barbero and Renato Ortiz working within contemporary cultural studies. Specifically, we will examine in what way these authors have approached the cultural change and transformation of the dynamics of identity construction provoked by recent processes of globalization. To deepen the critical analysis of this discussion, a kind of platform for observation has been selected. The cultural complexity of Latin America will be examined through an exploration of the empirical research into identities and cultural practices of popular urban sectors, specifically youth groups. The main proposals and thesis of the cited authors will be subjected to revision based on the empirical studies regarding the symbolic practices and identities of youth populations that live in marginalised neighbourhoods of Latin America. The research proposes to reflect on the belonging, reach and limits of such approaches to these matters stemming from cultural studies of the region.