Chicano Movement

The largest social movement by people of Mexican descent in the U.S. to date, the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 70s linked civil rights activism with a new, assertive ethnic identity: Chicano Power! Beginning with the farmworkers' struggle led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, the Movement expanded to urban areas throughout the Southwest, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, as a generation of self-proclaimed Chicanos fought to empower their communities. Recently, a new generation of historians has produced an explosion of interesting work on the Movement.The Chicano Movement: Perspectives from the Twenty-First Century collects the various strands of this research into one readable collection, exploring the contours of the Movement while disputing the idea of it being one monolithic group. Bringing the story up through the 1980s, The Chicano Movement introduces students to the impact of the Movement, and enables them to expand their understanding of what it means to be an activist, a Chicano, and an American.

In The Chicano Movement: Perspectives from the 21st Century, Mario García gathers the newest scholarship on this important series of events. What emerges is a broader view of the Chicano movement that allows us to see its limits and reach. This book offers a fresh take on the Chicano movement from young, promising scholars, who will shape our understanding of this phenomenon for years to come. Anyone interested in Latino life and culture in the present, must read this book about the recent past, which challenges us to envision a more emancipatory future. — Ernesto Chávez, author of ¡Mi Raza Primero! (My People First): Nationalism, Identity, and Insurgency in the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles, 1966-1978The authors in this volume offer new insights on the impact of Chicano Movement activism on localized struggles. Fresh perspectives on the Movement’s legacy emerge from case studies of Chicano/a advocacy for electoral power and the rights of immigrant women, students, welfare mothers, and laborers in rural and urban settings. — Christine Marie Sierra, co-editor of Chicana Voices: Intersections of Class, Race, and GenderThis work increases our knowledge of lesser-known but important individuals, organizations and peripheral communities that proved critical to the expansion of the Chicano Movement’s activism. It also introduces us to previously ignored topics in Movement studies. A must-read book for those interested in Chicano civil rights.— Ignacio M. Garcia, author of Chicanismo: The Forging of a Militant Ethos Among Mexican Americans

Mario T. García is Professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Barbara.