An Ostensibly Raceless Nation

Chapter 4 presents the thesis of the racialization of class, arguing that racial understandings are deeply interconnected to class principles. The analysis starts by showing how despite the assumption that mestizaje eradicated all racial ideas, people employ a wide range of racialized notions in everyday interactions. Second, it shows how the class system deeply influences these racial ideas. This argument does not assume that the wealthier the person, the whiter they are perceived to be. Instead, it is explained why racial notions change from more fluid cultural assumptions at the bottom and middle part of the class hierarchy to more rigid biological views at the top of the socioeconomic order. The transformation is linked to both the changing nature of capital and the phenotypical composition of the upper classes. The chapter ends by using a series of concrete ethnographic examples to illustrate the argument of the racialization of class.

Caddies

Chapter 5 uses the racialization-of-class thesis to demonstrate how the exclusion of caddies is based on class and racial dynamics, which are commonly conveyed through spatial arrangements. The analysis starts by showing how caddies’ low status is linked to their working-class origins as much as a narrative that justifies their impoverished condition on racialized grounds. The analysis then explains that although caddying offers a higher salary than most other working-class jobs, there are still multiple mechanisms that perpetuate caddies’ economic subordination. Interviewed club members constantly articulated a racialized discourse to speak about the spaces that caddies occupied. The chapter reveals how in a country that assumes that race (as a concept) and racism (as its manifestation) do not exist, space and spatial dynamics are highly effective ways to convey racialized hierarchies without the need to openly verbalize them.

The History of Golf in Mexico

Chapter 1 analyzes the history of golf in Mexico, showing a long-term pattern of class and racialized dynamics associated to the sport. The first part describes how wealthy Anglo-American immigrants brought golf to late nineteenth-century Mexico. This section explains how the early development of golf was connected to the spread of modernity, capitalism, and Anglo-American racialized ideas, dynamics that informed the creation of a class- and race-based privileged space. The second part of the chapter chronicles the transformation that golf experienced after the 1940s when a growing number of affluent Mexicans joined this sport. The change, however, did not eradicate some of the early restrictive dynamics. The chapter ends by showing how the neoliberal policies introduced by the late 1980s significantly expanded the number of golf clubs existing in the country. Despite the considerable expansion, golf is still the preserve of the upper middle and upper classes in today’s Mexico.

Introduction

The Introduction explains why this book uses golf and golf clubs as strategic sites to examine wealth, racial hierarchies, and gender inequalities in Mexico. It clarifies however that this is neither a book about golf nor an anti-golf treatise but rather a critical exploration of the multiple layers that constitute privilege. The introductory chapter highlights that Privilege at Play focuses on aspects largely overlooked by the “studying up” literature on Mexico, such as sites of leisure and the organization of informal relations among affluent people. The chapter includes an explanation of why despite club members commonly belong to two different class groups—upper-middle and upper classes—they are analytically treated as a single category. The introduction also contains an analysis of the role space and spatial arrangements play in the reproduction of privilege. The section ends by offering a description of the thematic organization of the book.

Invisibility and Hypervisibility

Chapter 2 analyzes the class composition of golf clubs, demonstrating that class dynamics cannot be solely reduced to economic relations. The first part shows how players commonly framed the broader golf community in terms of similarities. This, however, does not mean that all golfers and golf clubs were regarded as equal. There are tensions and antagonism, particularly among players situated at the extreme ends of the internal socioeconomic hierarchy, i.e., between golfers belonging to the least expensive and most exclusive clubs. The second part examines how clubs erected firm social boundaries with the outside world, creating spaces that are invisible to the larger city but hypervisible to the internal group. This analysis demonstrates how class dynamics modified spatial perceptions. The chapter ends by illustrating how gender intertwines with the class system, creating a class- as much as gender-based privileged space.

Inside the Community

Chapter 3 elaborates on the analysis of class, demonstrating how a multitude of mundane and ordinary actions reproduced class inequalities. First, it reflects on the connection between everyday language and the reproduction of social hierarchies inside clubs. Then follows a discussion of how perceptions of honor, honesty, intelligence, and civility informed a narrative that separates golf from popular sports, associating the latter with negative traits. This account allows club members to claim a form of athletic exceptionalism for golf, justifying exclusionary practices on arguments beyond wealth. The second part of the chapter explores the internal class divisions within the golf community, including an internal struggle between old-timers and newer club members. The former insisted on the importance of non-monetary forms of capital to determine the boundaries of the community, whereas the latter put more weight on financial assets to determine the limits of the group.

Epilogue—Privilege

The Epilogue demonstrates that the interwoven relation between class, race, gender, and privilege greatly interests ordinary people. Using the 2018 presidential election in Mexico, this chapter explains how the broader issues examined in the book played a central role in the public debates during the political campaigns. The analysis uses the comments, sayings, and criticism expressed by political candidates, journalists, and pundits to demonstrate how Mexicans are aware of and also interested in debating the large class differences that rife this nation. The class debate, however, is permanently intertwined with racialized perceptions, demonstrating the value of the racialization of class argument presented in the book. Finally, the analysis illustrates how a form of hegemonic masculinity profoundly shapes the public sphere, relegating women to a second class condition. This concluding chapter represents a renewed “call to arms” for social scientists interested in studying privilege. We cannot understand impoverished groups without paying attention to the other face of the same coin, privileged communities.

Gender on the Golf Course

Chapter 6 uses the concept of hegemonic masculinity to explain why women golfers occupy a position subordinate to their male peers. The analysis first examines how female club members enjoy a higher-class position and white(r) racial identity, granting them a dominant position relative to lower-class women and men. Despite their advantaged position, the class-based hegemonic masculinity prevailing in these clubs produces a wide range of mechanisms that keep women in a secondary place. The gender distribution of playing time and the exclusion of women from the bar are two examples that illustrate how hegemonic masculinity dominates women golfers inside these clubs. The chapter ends by showing how some women possess enough privilege to subvert this form of gender subordination. Ironically, however, the possibility of creating a more gender-inclusive space has been hindered by the class and racial benefits that initially gave these women a privileged position in society.