Intersections of Race, Class, and Nationalisms: German Networks in Peru 1870–1930

This paper uses German individual scholars in Peru and their networks as a lens to investigate constructs of German and Peruvian nationalisms in the period 1870-1930. Of particular interest here are a) the German self-identity (Deutschtum) that emerged in Peru among German settlers, travelers or scholars in this period; b) the constructs of Peru that they created, publicized, and disseminated; and c) changing constructs of official Peruanidad with which the German constructs conformed or collided. Due to the fact that some of the German scholars were high-ranking anthropologists and archaeologists within the Peruvian network in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, they actively participated in defining national identity in Peru. This aspect allows us to draw conclusions about local socio-economic hierarchies and offers insights into the broader socio-political system of post-colonial Peru.

Of central interest is the role of the categories of race and class in the broader context of Peruvian nationalism in this period and how the dimensions of race and class changed in the official version of Peruanidad. Looking at German scholar Max Uhle and his position as Director of the National Museum in Lima that was initially highly supported by Peruvian scholars and officials and that later became controversial ending, for example, allows a closer look at the political transitions that occurred within definitions of Peruvian national identity in the early twentieth century.