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Although immigrants enter the United States from virtually every nation, Mexico has long been identified in the public imagination as one of the primary sources of the economic, social, and political problems associated with mass migration. Between Two Worlds explores the controversies surrounding Mexicans as they establish new lives in an often intimidating foreign land. Drawing on insights provoked by recent trends in immigration research, Professor David Gutierrez has chosen eleven essays that provide an overview of some of the most important interpretation of the historical and contemporary dimensions of the Mexican diaspora. The opening articles chronicle the prejudice aimed toward Mexican Americans. Broadening the focus to include political as well as cultural themes, the next group of selections highlights issues such as acculturation, class, and the frequently shifting political stance of Mexican-Americans and Chicanos regarding the plight of new arrivals in the States. Finally, the closing essays take a hard look at present-day U.S. immigration policy in the context of both the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the emergence of an increasingly global economy.
List of contents
Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Historical Antecedents Chapter 3 The Sonoran Migration to California, 1848-1856: A Study in Prejudice Chapter 4 Always the Laborer, Never the Citizen: Anglo Perceptions of the Mexican Immigrant during the 1920s Chapter 5 The Importation of Mexican Contract Laborers to the United States, 1942-1964 Part 6 II Political and Cultural Contestation Chapter 7 La Frontera: the Border as Symbol and Reality in Mexican-American Thought Chapter 8 Caravans of Sorrow: Noncitizen Americans of the Southwest Chapter 9 "Star Struck": Acculturation, Adolescence, and the Mexican-American Woman, 1920-1950 Chapter 10 From Ranchero to Jaiton: Ethnicity and Class in Texas-Mexican Music (Two Styles in the Form of a Pair) Chapter 11 Sin Fronteras?: Chicanos, Mexican Americans, and the Emergence of the Contemporary Mexican Immigration Debate, 1968-1978 Part 12 Contemporary Perspectives Chapter 13 U.S. Immigration Policy toward Mexico in a Global Economy Chapter 14 Implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement for Mexican Migration into the United States Chapter 15 Mexican Migration and the Social Space of Postmodernism
About the author
David G. GutiZrrez is associate professor of history at the University of California, San Diego.
Summary
Although immigrants enter the United States from virtually every nation, Mexico has long been identified in the public imagination as one of the primary sources of the economic, social, and political problems associated with mass migration. This work explores the controversial issues surrounding the influx of Mexicans to America.
