Paper short abstract:

Based on an ethnography of the particular, this paper addresses the significance of German identity and being white for German-Argentinians in Buenos Aires focussing on terms designating both physical appearance and class position.

Paper long abstract:

The paper addresses the significance of "German" identity and being "white" for descendants of German-speaking immigrants in contemporary Buenos Aires. In my fieldwork, designed as an "ethnography of the particular" by a native anthropologist, I am concentrating on three individuals who were born in Argentina. Living in a deeply racialized society, being white hints at a superior social position. The historically reified cultural equation of being German and white and its contemporary ambiguous significance for Argentinians of German descent is analyzed interpretatively. The contradictory social interplay of identifying and differentiating practices of Argentinians of German descent is discussed in discursive as well as materialist realms of their life-worlds. Within the context of porteño culture in the aftermath of the economic and societal crisis of 2001, special reference will be given to terms designating both physical appearance and a person's class position.