Migrant Imaginaries Latino Cultural Politics in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands [Hardcover]

Winner of the 2009 Lora Romero First Book Prize from the American Studies Association
2009ChoiceOutstanding Academic Title
Migrant Imaginariesexplores the transnational movements of Mexican migrants in pursuit of labor and civil rights in the United States from the 1920s onward. Working through key historical moments such as the 1930s, the Chicano Movement, and contemporary globalization and neoliberalism, Alicia Schmidt Camacho examines the relationship between ethnic Mexican expressive culture and the practices sustaining migrant social movements. Combining sustained historical engagement with theoretical inquiries, she addresses how struggles for racial and gender equity, cross-border unity, and economic justice have defined the Mexican presence in the United States since 1910.
Schmidt Camacho covers a range of archives and sources, including migrant testimonials and songs, Amrico Parede’s last published novel,The Shadow, the filmSalt of the Earth, the foundational manifestos of El Movimiento, Richard Rodriguez’s memoirs, narratives by Marisela Norte and Rosario Sanmiguel, andtestimoniosof Mexican women workers and human rights activists, as well as significant ethnographic research. Throughout, she demonstrates how Mexicans and Mexican Americans imagined their communal ties across the border, and used those bonds to contest their noncitizen status.Migrant Imaginariesplaces migrants at the center of the hemisphere’s most pressing concerns, contending that border crossers have long been vital to social change.

Notably, Schmidt Camachos comprehensive interdisciplinary work lends insight into the current immigration crisis, one wrought from more than a century of failed national policiesCamacho offer[s] complementary strategies for rethinking the relationship between history (broadly defined) and cultural production. A landmark book. . . . Highly recommended.