JANA MORGAN • RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Entrenched ethnoracial hierarchies threaten democratic citizenship, even within formal democracies. While past research has focused on the harms to minoritized groups, this project highlights how these hierarchies undermine democracy across society. First, ethnoracial marginalization erodes support for democracy and respect for rights, including among privileged groups. Second, group consciousness among minoritized individuals, particularly a structural understanding, sustains democratic commitments. Interviews with Indigenous and Afrodescendant activists in Peru inform these insights, while survey data from Latin America and Bolivia reveal that reducing ethnoracial hierarchies strengthens democratic support. Structural group consciousness mitigates negative effects among minoritized members. This talk will discuss a framework and evidence on the societal challenges posed by ethnoracial hierarchies.