Assessing Explanations of Transformations in Categories

Abstract

While the state-centered literature usually assumes that censuses have transformative effects, an interactive approach that examines both state and social effects considers the conditions under which such a transformation might occur. This chapter, then, assesses four factors, drawn from the state-centered and society-centered approaches, that might have influenced whether census categories transformed everyday ones: a strong imperialist state, the familiarity of census categories, the engagement of social actors and institutions in information gathering, and local power relations. The results suggest that local power relations are particularly important: when official classifications support local elites’ interests, they can have transformative effects. The results show that the weak mercantilist state classified Spanish colonists as vecinos, Africans as Black slaves, and Taínos as Indians. These categories benefited Spanish colonists, and they informed everyday categorization for centuries. The strong imperialist Spanish and US states constructed more exclusive binary and tripartite categories. These definitions conflicted with local interests, and these official categories never replaced everyday ones.