Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics

Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics
Author: Devon G. Peña
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816543860

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Until recently, mainstream American environmentalism has been a predominantly white, middle-class movement, essentially ignoring the class, race, and gender dimensions of environmental politics. In this provocative collection of original essays, the environmental dimensions of the Chicana/o experience are explicitly expressed and debated. Employing a variety of genres ranging from poetry to autobiography to theoretical and empirical essays, the voices in this collection speak to the most significant issues of environmentalism and social justice, recognizing throughout the need for a pluralism of Chicana/o philosophies. The contributors provide an excellent basis for understanding how multiple Chicana/o views on the environment play out in the context of dominant social, political and economic views. Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics examines a number of Chicana/o ecological perspectives. How can the ethics of reciprocity present in Chicana/o agropastoral life be protected and applied on a broader scale? How can the dominant society, whose economic structure is invested in "placeless mobility," take note of the harm caused to land-based cultures, take responsibility for it, and take heed before it is too late? Will the larger society be "ecologically housebroken" before it destroys its home? Grounded in actual political struggles waged by Chicana/o communities over issues of environmental destruction, cultural genocide, and socioeconomic domination, this volume provides an important series of snapshots of Chicana/o history. Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics illuminates the bridges that exist—and must be understood—between race, ethnicity, class, gender, politics, and ecology. CONTENTS Part 1: IndoHispano Land Ethics Los Animalitos: Culture, Ecology, and the Politics of Place in the Upper R¡o Grande, Devon G. Peña Social Action Research, Bioregionalism, and the Upper Río Grande, Rubén O. Martínez Notes on (Home)Land Ethics: Ideas, Values, and the Land, Reyes García Part 2: Environmental History and Ecological Politics Ecological Legitimacy and Cultural Essentialism: Hispano Grazing in Northern New Mexico, Laura Pulido The Capitalist Tool, the Lawless, and the Violent: A Critique of Recent Southwestern Environmental History, Devon G. Peña and Rubén O. Martínez Ecofeminism and Chicano Environmental Struggles: Bridges across Gender and Race, Gwyn Kirk Philosophy Meets Practice: A Critique of Ecofeminism through the Voices of Three Chicana Activists, Malia Davis Part 3: Alternatives to Destruction The Pasture Poacher (a poem), Joseph C. Gallegos Acequia Tales: Stories from a Chicano Centennial Farm, Joseph C. Gallegos A Gold Mine, an Orchard, and an Eleventh Commandment, Devon G. Peña

Mexican Americans and the Environment

Mexican Americans and the Environment
Author: Devon Gerardo Pe–a
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2005
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780816522118

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Mexican Americans have traditionally had a strong land ethic, believing that humans must respect la tierra because it is the source of la vida. As modern market forces exploit the earth, communities struggle to control their own ecological futures, and several studies have recorded that Mexican Americans are more impacted by environmental injustices than are other national-origin groups. In our countryside, agricultural workers are poisoned by pesticides, while farmers have lost ancestral lands to expropriation. And in our polluted inner cities, toxic wastes sicken children in their very playgrounds and homes. This book addresses the struggle for environmental justice, grassroots democracy, and a sustainable society from a variety of Mexican American perspectives. It draws on the ideas and experiences of people from all walks of lifeÑactivists, farmworkers, union organizers, land managers, educators, and many othersÑwho provide a clear overview of the most critical ecological issues facing Mexican-origin people today. The text is organized to first provide a general introduction to ecology, from both scientific and political perspectives. It then presents an environmental history for Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border, showing that the ecologically sustainable Norte–o land use practices were eroded by the conquest of El Norte by the United States. It finally offers a critique of the principal schools of American environmentalism and introduces the organizations and struggles of Mexican Americans in contemporary ecological politics. Devon Pe–a contrasts tenets of radical environmentalism with the ecological beliefs and grassroots struggles of Mexican-origin people, then shows how contemporary environmental justice struggles in Mexican American communities have challenged dominant concepts of environmentalism. Mexican Americans and the Environment is a didactically sound text that introduces students to the conceptual vocabularies of ecology, culture, history, and politics as it tells how competing ideas about nature have helped shape land use and environmental policies. By demonstrating that any consideration of environmental ethics is incomplete without taking into account the experiences of Mexican Americans, it clearly shows students that ecology is more than nature study but embraces social issues of critical importance to their own lives.

Environmentalism and Economic Justice

Environmentalism and Economic Justice
Author: Laura Pulido
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1996-02-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816544018

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Ecological causes are championed not only by lobbyists or hikers. While mainstream environmentalism is usually characterized by well-financed, highly structured organizations operating on a national scale, campaigns for environmental justice are often fought by poor or minority communities. Environmentalism and Economic Justice is one of the first books devoted to Chicano environmental issues and is a study of U.S. environmentalism in transition as seen through the contributions of people of color. It elucidates the various forces driving and shaping two important examples of environmental organizing: the 1965-71 pesticide campaign of the United Farm Workers and a grazing conflict between a Hispano cooperative and mainstream environmentalists in northern New Mexico. The UFW example is one of workers highly marginalized by racism, whose struggle--as much for identity as for a union contract--resulted in boycotts of produce at the national level. The case of the grazing cooperative Ganados del Valle, which sought access to land set aside for elk hunting, represents a subaltern group fighting the elitism of natural resource policy in an effort to pursue a pastoral lifestyle. In both instances Pulido details the ways in which racism and economic subordination create subaltern communities, and shows how these groups use available resources to mobilize and improve their social, economic, and environmental conditions. Environmentalism and Economic Justice reveals that the environmental struggles of Chicano communities do not fit the mold of mainstream environmentalism, as they combine economic, identity, and quality-of-life issues. Examination of the forces that create and shape these grassroots movements clearly demonstrates that environmentalism needs to be sensitive to local issues, economically empowering, and respectful of ethnic and cultural diversity.

Resolana

Resolana
Author: Miguel Montiel
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2022-03-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816548285

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Villagers in northern New Mexico refer to the south-facing side of a wall as la resolana, meaning “the place where the sun shines.” Every culture has a resolana, a place where the resolaneros—the villagers—gather, dialogue, and reflect on society, culture, and politics. The buried knowledge that emerges from this process may be “pure gold,” or el oro del barrio, a metaphor for the culturally contextualized knowledge gathered at the resolana. Coming from diverse backgrounds in social work, sociology, public administration, literature, history, and education, three modern resolaneros take the twin concepts of resolana and el oro del barrio on a breathtaking journey from their rural roots to their application in an urban setting and on to a holistic view of globalization. The authors offer a humane perspective on transborder cultures and all communities struggling to maintain their cultural and linguistic identities. They share an optimistic view of how ordinary people everywhere can take back control of their own destinies. This book is about uncovering subjugated knowledge—el oro del barrio—through resolana, a dynamic process of thought and action. Resolana will inspire dialogue and creativity from those interested in sociology, political science, social work, and Chicano studies, as well as public-policy makers and the general public.

In the Spirit of a New People

In the Spirit of a New People
Author: Randy J. Ontiveros
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780814738887

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Reexamining the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, a In the Spirit of a New People abrings to light new insights about social activism in the twentieth-century and new lessons for progressive politics in the twenty-first. Randy J. Ontiveros explores the ways in which Chicano/a artists and activists used fiction, poetry, visual arts, theater, and other expressive forms to forge a common purpose and to challenge inequality in America. a Focusing on cultural politics, Ontiveros reveals neglected stories about the Chicano movement and its impact: how writers used the street press to push back against the network news; how visual artists such as Santa Barraza used painting, installations, and mixed media to challenge racism in mainstream environmentalism; how El Teatro CampesinoOCOs innovative OC actos, OCO or short skits, sought to embody new, more inclusive forms of citizenship; and how Sandra Cisneros and other Chicana novelists broadened the narrative of the Chicano movement.a In the Spirit of a New People aarticulates a fresh understanding of how the Chicano movement contributed to the social and political currents of postwar America, and how the movement remains meaningful today. a Randy J. Ontiveros ais Associate Professor of English and an affiliate in U.S. Latina/o Studies and WomenOCOs Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park."

A Tortilla Is Like Life

A Tortilla Is Like Life
Author: Carole M. Counihan
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0292782446

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An innovative portrait of a small Colorado town based on a decade’s worth of food-centered life histories from nineteen of its female residents. Located in the southern San Luis Valley of Colorado, the remote and relatively unknown town of Antonito is home to an overwhelmingly Hispanic population struggling not only to exist in an economically depressed and politically marginalized area, but also to preserve their culture and their lifeways. Between 1996 and 2006, anthropologist Carole Counihan collected food-centered life histories from nineteen Mexicanas―Hispanic American women―who had long-standing roots in the Upper Rio Grande region. The interviews in this groundbreaking study focused on southern Colorado Hispanic foodways―beliefs and behaviors surrounding food production, distribution, preparation, and consumption. In this book, Counihan features extensive excerpts from these interviews to give voice to the women of Antonito and highlight their perspectives. Three lines of inquiry are framed: feminist ethnography, Latino cultural citizenship, and Chicano environmentalism. Counihan documents how Antonito’s Mexicanas establish a sense of place and belonging through their knowledge of land and water and use this knowledge to sustain their families and communities. Women play an important role by gardening, canning, and drying vegetables; earning money to buy food; cooking; and feeding family, friends, and neighbors on ordinary and festive occasions. They use food to solder or break relationships and to express contrasting feelings of harmony and generosity, or enmity and envy. The interviews in this book reveal that these Mexicanas are resourceful providers whose food work contributes to cultural survival. “An important contribution to Mexican American culture.” ―Oral History Review “Counihan’s book is well written and will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers . . . I would recommend this book to those whose interests lie in foodways, gender studies, ethnography and folklore. A Tortilla is Like Life would be a good addition to any reading list, and a beneficial resource for those who desire to understand the complex associations of gender, food, culture and ethnicity.” —Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture

Chicano Art Inside/Outside the Master’s House

Chicano Art Inside/Outside the Master’s House
Author: Alicia Gaspar de Alba
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2010-07-05
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0292788983

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In the early 1990s, a major exhibition Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985 toured major museums around the United States. As a first attempt to define and represent Chicano/a art for a national audience, the exhibit attracted both praise and controversy, while raising fundamental questions about the nature of multiculturalism in the U.S. This book presents the first interdisciplinary cultural study of the CARA exhibit. Alicia Gaspar de Alba looks at the exhibit as a cultural text in which the Chicano/a community affirmed itself not as a "subculture" within the U.S. but as an "alter-Native" culture in opposition to the exclusionary and homogenizing practices of mainstream institutions. She also shows how the exhibit reflected the cultural and sexual politics of the Chicano Movement and how it serves as a model of Chicano/a popular culture more generally. Drawing insights from cultural studies, feminist theory, anthropology, and semiotics, this book constitutes a wide-ranging analysis of Chicano/a art, popular culture, and mainstream cultural politics. It will appeal to a diverse audience in all of these fields.

Chicanas/Chicanos at the Crossroads

Chicanas/Chicanos at the Crossroads
Author: David Maciel
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1996-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816516340

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Dubbed the "decade of the Hispanic," the 1980s was instead a period of retrenchment for Chicanas/os as they continued to confront many of the problems and issues of earlier years in the face of a more conservative political environment. Following a substantial increase in activism in the early 1990s, Chicana/o scholars are now prepared to take stock of the Chicano Movement's accomplishments and shortcomings--and the challenges it yet faces--on the eve of a new millennium. Chicanas/Chicanos at the Crossroads is a state-of-the-art assessment of the most significant developments in the conditions, fortunes, and experiences of Chicanas/os since the late seventies, with an emphasis on the years after 1980, which have thus far received little scholarly attention. Ten essays by leading Chicana and Chicano scholars on economic, social, educational, and political trends in Chicana/o life examine such issues as the rapid population growth of Chicanas/os and other Latinos; the ascendancy of Reaganomics and the turn to the right of American politics; the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment; the launching of new initiatives by the Mexican government toward the Chicano community; and the emergence of a new generation of political activists. The authors have been drawn from a broad array of disciplines, ranging from economics to women's studies, in order to offer a multidisciplinary perspective on Chicana/o developments in the contemporary era. The inclusion of authors from different regions of the United States and from divergent backgrounds enhances the broad perspective of the volume. The editors offer this anthology with the intent of providing timely and useful insights and stimulating reflection and scholarship on a diverse and complex population. A testament to three decades of intense social struggle, Chicanas/Chicanos at the Crossroads is ample evidence that the legacy of the Movimiento is alive and well. Contents Part One: Demographic and Economic Trends Among Chicanas/os 1. Demographic Trends in the Chicano Population: Policy Implications for the Twenty First Century, Susan Gonzalez-Baker 2. Mexican Immigration in the 1980s and Beyond: Implications for Chicanos/as, Leo R. Chavez and Rebecca Martinez 3. Chicanas/os in the Economy: Issues and Challenges Since 1970, Refugio Rochin and Adela de la Torre Part Two: Chicano Politics: Trajectories and Consequences 4. The Chicano Movement: Its Legacy for Politics and Policy, John A. Garcia 5. Chicano Organizational Politics and Strategies in the Era of Retrenchment, Isidro D. Ortiz 6. Return to Aztlan: Mexican Policy Design Toward Chicanos, Mar’a Rosa Garcia-Acevedo Part Three: Chicana/o Educational Struggles: Dimensions, Accomplishments and Challenges 7. Actors Not Victims: Chicanos in the Struggle for Educational Equality, Guadalupe San Miguel 8. Juncture in the Road: Chincano Studies Since El Plan de Santa Barbara, Ignacio Garcia Part Four: Gender Feminism and Chicanas/os: Developments and Perspectives 9. Gender and Its Discontinuities in Male/Female Domestic Relations: Mexicans in Cross Cultural Context, Adelaida R. Del Castillo 10. With Quill and Torch: A Chicana Perspective on the American Women's Movement and Feminist Theories, Beatr’z Pesquera and Denise A. Segura

Chicana/Latina Education in Everyday Life

Chicana/Latina Education in Everyday Life
Author: Dolores Delgado Bernal
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2006-08-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0791481514

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This first-of-its-kind volume bridges Chicana/Latina feminist perspectives with education and offers innovative ideas on teaching and learning, and ways of knowing. This groundbreaking volume explores both Chicana/Latina feminist definitions of teaching and learning, and ways of knowing in education. The book’s contributors—Chicana/Latina feminist scholars—reinterpret the field of education as inter- and transdisciplinary and connected to ethnic, racial, and womanist scholarship. They examine mujer- (women-) centered definitions of pedagogy and epistemology rooted in Chicana/Latina theories and visions of life, family, community, and world. Armed with the tools of Chicana/Latina feminist thought, the contributors link cultural studies theories to critical/feminist pedagogies by re-envisioning the sites of pedagogy to include women’s brown bodies and their agency. Dolores Delgado Bernal is Associate Professor of Education and Chicana/o Studies at the University of Utah. C. Alejandra Elenes is Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at Arizona State University. Francisca E. Godinez teaches Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University at Sacramento.

Mexican Americans and the Environment

Mexican Americans and the Environment
Author: Devon G. Peña
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2022-09-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816550824

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Mexican Americans have traditionally had a strong land ethic, believing that humans must respect la tierra because it is the source of la vida. As modern market forces exploit the earth, communities struggle to control their own ecological futures, and several studies have recorded that Mexican Americans are more impacted by environmental injustices than are other national-origin groups. In our countryside, agricultural workers are poisoned by pesticides, while farmers have lost ancestral lands to expropriation. And in our polluted inner cities, toxic wastes sicken children in their very playgrounds and homes. This book addresses the struggle for environmental justice, grassroots democracy, and a sustainable society from a variety of Mexican American perspectives. It draws on the ideas and experiences of people from all walks of life—activists, farmworkers, union organizers, land managers, educators, and many others—who provide a clear overview of the most critical ecological issues facing Mexican-origin people today. The text is organized to first provide a general introduction to ecology, from both scientific and political perspectives. It then presents an environmental history for Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border, showing that the ecologically sustainable Norteño land use practices were eroded by the conquest of El Norte by the United States. It finally offers a critique of the principal schools of American environmentalism and introduces the organizations and struggles of Mexican Americans in contemporary ecological politics. Devon Peña contrasts tenets of radical environmentalism with the ecological beliefs and grassroots struggles of Mexican-origin people, then shows how contemporary environmental justice struggles in Mexican American communities have challenged dominant concepts of environmentalism. Mexican Americans and the Environment is a didactically sound text that introduces students to the conceptual vocabularies of ecology, culture, history, and politics as it tells how competing ideas about nature have helped shape land use and environmental policies. By demonstrating that any consideration of environmental ethics is incomplete without taking into account the experiences of Mexican Americans, it clearly shows students that ecology is more than nature study but embraces social issues of critical importance to their own lives.