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The "Latino vote" has become a mantra in political media, as journalists, pundits, and social scientists regularly weigh in on Latinos' loyalty to the Democratic Party and the significance of their electoral participation. But how and why did Latinos' liberal orientation take hold? What has this political inclination meant—and how has it unfolded—over time?
In
Latinos and the Liberal City, Eduardo Contreras addresses these questions, offering a bold, textured, and inclusive interpretation of the nature and character of Latino politics in America's shifting social and cultural landscape. Contreras argues that Latinos' political life and aspirations have been marked by diversity and contestation yet consistently influenced by the ideologies of liberalism and latinidad: while the principles of activist government, social reform, freedom, and progress sustained liberalism, latinidad came to rest on promoting unity and commonality among Latinos.
Contreras centers this compelling narrative on San Francisco—America's liberal city par excellence—examining the role of its Latino communities in local politics from the 1930s to the 1970s. By the early twentieth century, San Francisco's residents of Latin American ancestry traced their heritage to nations including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile, and Peru. These communities formed part of the New Deal coalition, defended workers' rights with gusto, and joined the crusade for racial equality decades before the 1960s. In the mid- to late postwar era, Latinos expanded claims for recognition and inclusion while participating in movements and campaigns for socioeconomic advancement, female autonomy, gay liberation, and rent control.
Latinos and the Liberal City makes clear that the local public sphere nurtured Latinos' political subjectivities and that their politicization contributed to the vibrancy of San Francisco's political culture.
List of contents
List of Abbreviations
Introduction. Latinos, Liberalism, Latinidad
Chapter 1.
El Público Latino: Community Life in the Early Twentieth Century
Chapter 2.
La Lucha Obrera: Mass Action and Inclusion in the Progressive Labor Movement
Chapter 3. "Big Jobs to Do": Economic Security, Electoral Politics, and Civil Rights Liberalism
Chapter 4. "Taking Latin Americans into Account": Civic Action, the State, and the Promotion of Latinidad
Chapter 5. "The Color of Citizen Participation": Community Control and the Contest over Great Society Liberalism
Chapter 6. "Oppressed by Our Latino Culture": Tradition and Liberation During the Sexual Revolution
Chapter 7. "We Must Unite with All Struggling People": Gentrification, Gay Rights, and Neighborhood Politics
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
About the author
Eduardo Contreras is Associate Professor of History at Hunter College, City University of New York.
