Chicana/o Studies

Thirteen Chicano scholars draw upon their personal experiences and expertise to paint a vivid, colorful portrait of what it means to be a Chicano. "We have come a long way," says Arnulfo D. Trejo, editor of this volume, "from the time when theMexicano silently accepted the stereotype drawn of him by the outsider." He identifies himself as a Chicano, and his "promised land" is Aztlán, home of the ancient Aztecs, which now provides spiritual unity and a vision of the future for Chicanos. In these twelve original compositions, says Trejo, "our purpose is not to talk to ourselves, but to open a dialogue among all concerned people." The personal reactions to Chicano women's struggles, political experiences, bicultural education and history provide a wealth of information for laymen as well as scholars. In addition, the book provides the most complete recorded definition of the Chicano Movement, what it has accomplished, and its goals for the future.

Esta publicación da testimonio del primer coloquio sobre el tema Mujer y Literatura Mexicana y Chicana. Culturas en Contacto, realizado en Tijuana en abril de 1987. Su realización fue producto del esfuerzo de cuatro instituciones: El Colegio de México y su Programa Interdisciplinario de Estudios de la Mujer; El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a través del Departamento de Estudios Culturales; la Universidad de California en San Diego y la Universidad de San Diego. Lo principal es que este libro desmiente el mutismo de la mujer en la cultura y recupera su palabra como fuente de reflexión y conocimiento en la literatura.

Drawing on revisionist social theories relating to Chicano family structure as well as on feminist theory, Patricia Zavella paints a compelling picture of the Chicano women who work in northern California's fruit and vegetable canneries. Her book combines social history, shop-floor enthnography, and indepth interviews to explore the linkages between Chicano family life and gender inequality in the labor market.

Mexican communities in the United States faced more than unemployment during the Great Depression. Discrimination against Mexican nationals and similar prejudices against Mexican Americans led the communities to seek help from Mexican consulates, which in most cases rose to their defense. Los Angeles's consulate was confronted with the country's largest concentration of Mexican Americans, for whom the consuls often assumed a position of community leadership. Whether helping the unemployed secure repatriation and relief or intervening in labor disputes, consuls uniquely adapted their roles in international diplomacy to the demands of local affairs.

For thousands of Mexican laborers, life along the U.S. border represents an opportunity both to earn wages and to gain access to consumer goods. For anthropologist Josiah Heyman, this labor force presents an opportunity to gain a better understanding of working people, "to uncover the order underlying the history of waged lives." Life and Labor on the Border traces the development of the urban working class in northern Sonora over the period of a century. Drawing on an extensive collection of life histories, Heyman describes what has happened to families over several generations as people have left the countryside to work for American-owned companies in northern Sonora or to cross the border to find other employment. Heyman searches for the origins of "working classness" in these family histories, revealing aspects of life that strengthen people's involvement with a consumer economy, including the role of everyday objects like sewing machines, cars, and stoves. He considers the consequences of changing political and economic tides, as well as the effects on family life of the new role of women in the labor force. Within the broad sweep of family chronicles, key junctures in individual lives-both personal and historical crises-offer additional insights into social class dynamics. These life stories convey the positive sense of people's goals in life and reveal the origins of a distinctive way of life in the borderlands.