Black ethnic identity in Colombia coalesced through engagement with the state.

Evidence

In the epilogue we learn that Wade has returned to Colombia since the completion of his book. It is here that Wade changes course and tempers the above assessment. He argues that the possibility of mobilization is now much more promising since his last visit to the region four years earlier. “What we are witnessing, then, is the emergence of a more solid ethnic identity than previously existed… Now, there is a definite element claiming that blacks are an ethnic group, and does so in privileged encounters with the state. Thus, an imagined community of blacks is emerging,…” (Wade, 1993:356). — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3646

Categorization

• XREF: The phrase ‘imagined community of blacks’ echoes Benedict Anderson’s imagined communities framework; connects to the reader’s broader interest in identity formation and state relations.