The problem of citizenship has long affected Latin America, simultaneously producing inclusion and exclusion, division and unity. Its narrative and practice both reflect and contribute to the region’s profound inequalities. However, citizenship is usually studied on the margins of society. Despite substantial public interest in recent mass mobilizations, the middle and upper classes are rarely approached as political agents or citizens. As the region’s middle classes continue to grow and new elites develop, their importance can only increase.

This interdisciplinary volume addresses this gap, showcasing recent ethnographic research on middle- and upper-class citizenship in contemporary Latin America. It explores how the region’s middle and upper classes constitute themselves as citizens through politics and culture, and questions how these processes interact with the construction of difference and commonality, division and unity. Subsequently, this collection highlights how elite citizenships are constructed in dialogue with other identities, how these co-constructions reproduce or challenge inequality, and whether they have the potential to bring about change.

Citizenship in the Latin American Upper and Middle Classes will appeal to scholars, advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in fields such as Latin American Studies, Citizenship Studies, Political Science and Cultural Studies; and to a general readership interested in Latin American politics and society.

公民权问题长期影响着拉丁美洲，同时产生了包容和排斥、分裂和团结。它的叙述和实践既反映了该地区深刻的不平等，也促成了该地区的不平等。然而，公民权通常在社会的边缘被研究。尽管公众对最近的大规模动员有很大兴趣，但中产阶级和上层阶级很少被当作政治代理人或公民来研究。随着该地区中产阶级的持续增长和新精英的发展，他们的重要性只会增加。

这本跨学科的书解决了这个问题，展示了最近关于当代拉丁美洲中产阶级和上层阶级公民权的民族学研究。它探讨了该地区的中产阶级和上层阶级如何通过政治和文化构成自己的公民身份，并质疑这些过程如何与差异和共同性、分裂和团结的构建相互作用。随后，这套书强调了精英公民身份是如何在与其他身份的对话中构建的，这些共同构建如何复制或挑战不平等，以及它们是否有可能带来变化。

拉丁美洲中上层阶级的公民身份将吸引对拉丁美洲研究、公民身份研究、政治学和文化研究等领域感兴趣的学者、高级本科生和研究生；以及对拉丁美洲政治和社会感兴趣的普通读者。