Benjamin Marquez

Mexican-American Community Development Corporations and the Limits of Directed Capitalism

This article is an analysis of the history and redevelopment activities of the three largest Community Development Corporations serving Mexican-American neighborhoods. Its focus is the relationship between grassroots political activism, urban economic development strategies, and free-market processes in inner-city neighborhoods. It is argued that the low levels of political and economic support CDCs have received over the years have eroded their ability to reverse the economic decline of their respective target areas.

Representation by Other Means: Mexican American and Puerto Rican Social Movement Organizations

Electoral participation is only one facet of a larger pattern of Latino political engagement. As the oldest Latino communities in the United States, Mexican Americans (since 1848) and Puerto Ricans (since 1898) have a long history of organizing to protect themselves against racial discrimination. Social movement organizations were often the only outlets for political representation and self-defense in a society where Latinos were outnumbered and barred from effective participation in the institutions of government. Latino organizations generated a leadership cadre and served as vehicles through which interests of class, gender, occupation, and ideology were mediated

Choosing issues, choosing sides: constructing identities in Mexican-American social movement organizations

This essay offers a conceptual framework with which one can understand the process of identity formation in minority social movement organizations. It is argued that identities are configurations of ethnic symbols, group experiences and history arranged and reinterpreted for a specific political purpose. It is further argued that organizationally generated identities can be studied by examining the positions they take in support of or in opposition to existing social and economic structures. Finally, this article develops a theoretically informed model of identity formation in Mexican-American organizations that centres on their interpretation of three interlocking but distinct issues: racial discrimination, economic disadvantage and cultural hegemony.

Immigration Reform: Strategies for Legislative Action

This paper deals with the current prospects and potential problems with passage of immigration reform. Rather than recommend legislative and programmatic changes that many other commentators have posed, this paper discusses the possible legislative strategies for accomplishing changes in an immigration system that most believe is in dire need of reform. Specifically it asks if the various complex issues involved in immigration should be considered as separable and discrete issues, subject to serial and incremental legislation, or, as currently being conceived by the Obama administration, as a comprehensive package of reforms. We begin by describing and analyzing the core set of issues defining immigration policy. We then discuss various theories of issue preferences and how those theories have implications for the choice of relevant strategies for the immigration debate. Finally we present evidence based on recent congressional voting patterns and the positions taken by the most important interest groups.

Mexican American support for third parties: the case of La Raza Unida

Abstract Given barriers generated by racism, direct appeals for political solidarity should resonate strongly among racial and ethnic groups. Yet, such appeals can be mitigated as those barriers are overcome and minorities assimilate into society. We examine the case of Mexican Americans during the Chicano Movement. At this time, many Mexican Americans were assimilating and finding a place in the social hierarchy while others argued against assimilation. An important example of racial identity politics came in 1972 when La Raza Unida Party [LRUP] fielded a candidate for governor in Texas. Counter to what standard theories of assimilation and acculturation would predict, Mexican Americans responded to this call for racial solidarity. Based on quantitative and qualitative evidence, we argue that the election revealed intense alienation among Mexican Americans from Anglo-dominated politics. However, Mexican American support for LRUP was uneven across Texas and reflected differing levels of economic attainment and incorporation.

Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice

the expense of nominees with an extensive political and public background” (283). But he overstates Senate opposition to presidential appointments; of the current court members, only Thomas and Rehnquist faced serious senatorial resistance. Nor is it clear why these jurists are less preferable to the “larger than life figures” from the Warren Court, whose loss Silverstein bemoans. Indeed, the unrestrained judicial legislating of the earlier era played no small part in producing the destructive politicization of today’s federal judiciary. These objections are minor. This is an impressive book; it seriously advances our understanding of those who make up the current court and the law they produce. It almost surely will be on my next Constitutional Law syllabus.

POLICY, CONFLICT, AND THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION

Books reviewed in this article: Vernon M. Briggs, Jr. Immigration Policy and the American Labor Force. Vernon M. Briggs, Jr. and Martha Tienda, eds. Immigration: Issues and Policies. Elizabeth Hull. Without Justice for All: The Constitutional Rights of Aliens. Milton Morris. Immigration: The Beleaguered Bureaucracy.