Racism as a Structural Institution of Peripheral Development:

Conspicuous Consumption and White Masks.

Authors

  • André Torres Universidade Federal do ABC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22409/y37av464

Abstract

This article proposes a racial approach to understanding the cultural dependency relationship in peripheral development. The central hypothesis is that development, confused with the modernization of the dominant elites' lifestyles, has a racial dimension that makes racism a structuring institution of underdevelopment. Through a literature review and theoretical discussion, we articulate the concepts of Thorstein Veblen's conspicuous consumption, Celso Furtado's cultural mimicry, and Frantz Fanon's racism as culture. It is concluded that, in underdeveloped countries with white elites, conspicuous consumption acts as a "white mask" that reinforces the myth of development and cultural whitening.

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Published

2026-03-24