Fluid Borders - Latino Power, Identity, and Politics in Los Angeles - Lisa Garcia Bedolla

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Résumé :
With depth and nuance, Garcia Bedolla explores how the dynamics of immigration have affected political socialization, attitudes, and practices, as well as levels of political participation among Latinos and Latinas in Los Angeles. In so doing, she has produced an important and insightful contribution to the study of Latina/o politics.--Edwina Barvosa-Carter, Assistant Professor of Social and Political Theory, Department of Chicana/o Studies, UC Santa Barbara
Drawing upon an impressive number of in-depth interviews, Lisa Garcia Bedolla intriguingly demonstrates how Latino perceptions of social stigma shape collective identities, social networks, and forms of political mobilization. Her respondents engage questions about political marginality and empowerment in complex and nuanced ways that strikingly reveal how class, gender, and generation constitute significant categories of difference among Latinos.--Michael Omi, co-author of Racial Formation in the United States
Fluid Borders is an important book in the evolving literature on Latino politics and race and politics. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, Garcia Bedolla details the attitudes and actions of two contrasting Latino communities in Los Angeles. Never losing sight of the visible class differences that exist between the two communities, Garcia Bedolla also explores other significant factors such as collective identity, foreign-born status and political socialization in what is truly an insightful intersectional analysis. Through her lucid writing and interviews, Garcia Bedolla provides the reader with depth and texture, greatly enhancing our understanding of Latino politics.--Cathy Cohen, author ofThe Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics
Fluid Borders is a rich and fascinating book, overturning many of the preconceptions social scientists have held about the relationship between economic and linguistic assimilation and political mob