Abstract

This article resumes the paths of research that resulted in the book “Olly: Race, Class, and Gender in the Invention of a Rustic Modernity” in dialogue with the critique of the subtitle, written by French sociologist Natalie Heinich. In this sense, the text seeks to circumscribe the research in a universe of academic production engaged in rethinking fundamental categories of the Brazilian experience, such as miscegenation, whitening policies, and gender violence perpetrated by the state. The article defends the heuristic relevance of the social markers of difference—race, class, and gender—not only as analytical categories in themselves but also, and mainly, in articulation with aspects of the researcher’s personal trajectory.