Professor Isidro D. Ortiz
Office Hours: Tues 15:30-17:00
E-mail: ortiz5@mail.sdsu.edu
A&L 357
594-1256
Fall 2014
CCS 301
Political Economy of the Chicano People
Covers political and economic roots of the oppression and exploitation of Chicanos from a historical, institutional,
and theoretical point of view. Parallels between the experience of the Chicano and other Latino, immigrant, and
minority groups are discussed.
Prerequisite recommended: CCS 110
The course objectives include:
1. Developing an understanding the forms, tools, and effects of oppression, and Chicana/o responses to
oppression.
2. Promoting familiarity with the major theoretical approaches to the study of oppression and racial inequality.
3. Providing an analysis of the major political issues and socioeconomic problems confronting Chicanas/os in
the context of globalization.
4. Acquainting students with the competing visions for ending oppression among Chicanos and other Latinos
today and debates about the impact of Chicanos and other Latinos in American society.
Learning Outcomes
As a result of enrolling in CCS 301, students will attain knowledge of: the rationales for the scholarly study of
Chicana/os and their experience with oppression; the hegemonic and counterhegemonic paradigms regarding
Chicana/os; the concepts associated with the scholarly study of forms, tools, and effects of oppression; individual
and collective responses to oppression; the major theoretical approaches to the study of oppression and racial
inequality; the differences and similarities between the experiences of Chicana/os and other ethnic/racial groups
with oppression; continuity and change in generational experiences with oppression among Chicana/os;
competing forms of consciousness and ideological visions among Chicanos and other Latinos; the social and
political consequences of globalization for the existing racial order and prospects for oppression; and the
possibilities and limits of alternative strategies for combating oppression. In addition, the capacity of students to
grasp and apply social science concepts related to oppression and other subjects examined in the course will be
enhanced. Moreover, student ability to critically read social scientific and historical research will be strengthened.
This knowledge and abilities will be demonstrated through performance on the requirements or the course. Lastly,
students will achieve understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the field of Chicana and Chicano Studies.
Course Requirements and Grading
*Midterm………………….….50%
*Final Exam…………………..50%
Total…………………………100%
*Both exams will be in short answer and essay format and be take home exams. Extra credit opportunities will
also be made available as feasible.
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Texts
1. Tomas Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Making of White Supremacy in California (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1998)
2. Andrew L. Barlow, Between Fear and Hope: Globalization and Race in the United States (Lanham: Rowman
and Littlefield, 2003).
3. Edward Escobar, Race, Police, and The Making of a Political Identity (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1995).
4. Ian F. Haney Lopez, Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice (Cambridge: The Belknap Press, 2003).
5. Jorge Mariscal, Brown-eyed Children of the Sun (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006).
6. Victor Rios, Punished, Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys, New York University Press, 2012.
7. Reader at local copy shop
Structure
The course will begin with a demographic and political profile of the Chicano population. This examination will
be followed by an analysis of the concept of oppression and of theories regarding the ethnic experience and socioeconomic and political development. Upon the completion of this examination, a systemic assessment of the
historical experience of the generations of the Chicano population under oppression and the forces shaping the
status and experience will be conducted, drawing upon the theoretical discussion. Chicanas/Chicanos in California
and their experiences with oppression will be the primary focus for a number of reasons. An examination of the
similarities and differences in the contemporary status and problems of Chicanos and other Latinos and the forces
shaping the current status sill succeed this examination. An analysis of the strategies used in the past and today to
deal with the problems will then be undertaken in order to assess their possibilities and limits in the context of
globalization. Lastly, we will examine and discuss the current visions for ending oppression and achieving social
justice.
Reading pertinent to these foci will serve as a basis of class discussions and supplement the lectures. The lectures
will be complemented with audiovisual materials on specific aspects of the Chicano experience.
Schedule and Readings
8/ 26
Introduction and Overview
Andrew Barlow, Between Fear and Hope, chaps. 1 & 2;
William I. Robinson, “The Global Economy and the Latino Populations in the United States:
A World Systems Approach,” Critical Sociology, 1992, 19(2), pp. 29-59;
Mario Barrera and William Robinson, “Global Capitalism and Twenty-first Century Fascism: A
U.S. Case Study,” Race &Class, 2012, 53(3), pp. 4-29;
Elizabeth Martinez and Arnoldo Garcia, “What is neoliberalism: a Brief Definition for Activists”
on-line.
9/2
Chicanas and Chicanos: Hegemonic and Counterhegemonic Paradigms
Andrew Barlow, Between Fear and Hope, chaps. 3, 4, 5;
Raymond Rocco, “The Structuring of Latino Politics: Neo-liberalism and Incorporation,” NACLA
Report on the Americas, Nov. 1, 2010;
Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror, chap. 6, “Emigrants from Erin.”
9/9
Theories of Inequality and Oppression
Iris Young, “Five Faces of Oppression” in D. Harris, Multiculturalism from the Margins;
Mario Barrera, “A Theory of Inequality” in, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolfo Torres, and Henry
Gutierrez, Latinos and Education: A Critical Reader, pp 33-44.
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9/16
Generational Experiences with Oppression: The Original Chicanos
Tomas Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California;
Alberto Camarillo, Chicanos in a Changing Society, chaps 1-5;
Mario Barrera, Race and Class in the Southwest, chap. 3: “The Establishment of a Colonial Labor
System.”
9/23
Generational Experiences with Oppression: The Mexican Immigrant Generation
Edward Escobar, Race, Police, and the Making of a Political Identity.
9/30
Generational Experiences with Oppression: The Mexican American generation
Mario T. Garcia, Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, chaps. 4 & 6;
Ignacio Garcia, Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot, chaps. 1-4.
10/7
Generational Experiences with Oppression: The Chicano Generation
Ira F. Haney, Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice.
10/14
The Chicano Generation (cont’d)
Jorge Mariscal, Brown-eyed Children of the Sun.
10/21
Generational Experiences with Oppression: The Post-Chicano Generations
Victor Rios, Punished, Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys.
10/28
Michael Males, Scapegoat Generation, chap. 1&2;
Hector Cordero Guzman, “The Structure of Inequality and the Status of Puerto Rican Youth in
the United States,” Centro de Estudios Puertoriqueños Journal.
11/4
The Post-Chicano Generations (cont’d)
George Lipsitz, “We Know What Time It Is: Youth Culture in the 90’s,” Centro de Estudios
Puertoriqueños Journal;
Francisco Villareal et al., “Donde está la Justicia? A Call to Action on behalf of Latina and Latino
Youth in the U.S. Justice System,” Institute for Children, Youth and Families, Michigan State
University;
Kevin Terry, “Community Dreams and Nightmares: Arizona, Ethnic Studies,” NYU Law Review
2013;
Arely Zimmerman, “A Dream Detained: Undocumented Latino youth and the Dreamer
Movement,” NACLA Report on the Americas, Nov. 1, 2011;
Zachary Levenson,”Occupy Education: the Student Fight Against Austerity in California,”
NACLA Report on the Americas, Nov. 1, 2011.
11/11
Contemporary Strategies, Limits, and Possibilities: Electoral Politics and Interest Group Politics
Paula Cruz Takash, “Breaking Barriers to Representation: Chicana Elected Officials in California,”
in C. Cohen et al., Women Transforming Politics;
Guadalupe San Miguel, Actors Not Victims: Chicanas/os in the Struggle for Educational Equity,”
in Crossroads, eds., Maciel and Ortiz.
11/18
Contemporary Strategies (cont’d): The Strategies of Community Organizing and Protest
William V. Flores, “Mujeres en Huelga: Cultural Citizenship and Gender Empowerment in a
Cannery Strike,” in W.V. Flores and R. Benmayor, Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming
Identity, Space and Rights, pp. 210-254;
Andrea Guerrero, Silence at Boalt Hall;
William I. Robinson, “Aqui estamos y no nos Vamos! Global Capital and Immigrant Rights,”
Race & Class, 2006, 48(2), pp. 77-91.
11/25
Competing Visions
Andrew Barlow, Between Fear and Hope, chaps. 6 & 7;
Samuel Huntington, “The Hispanic Challenge,” Foreign Policy.
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12/2-12/9
Visions (cont’d)
Jack Citrin, et al., “Testing Huntington: Is Hispanic Immigration a Threat to American Identity?”
Perspectives on Politics, March 2007;
Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Assimilation But Were
Afraid to Ask,” in Engaging Cultural Differences: The Multicultural Challenge in Liberal
Democracies, ed., Richard Schweder, et al. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2002),
pp. 19-42;
Hazal Rose Markus, Claude Steele, and Dorothy Steele, “Color Blindness as A Barrier to Inclusion:
Assimilation and Nonimmigrant Minorities,” in Engaging Cultural Differences, pp. 453-472.
CCS 301 is an Explorations course in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Completing this course will help you learn
to do the following with greater depth: (1) explore and recognize basic terms, concepts, and domains of the social
and behavioral sciences; (2) comprehend diverse theories and methods of the social and behavioral sciences; (3)
identify human behavioral patterns across space and time and discuss their interrelatedness and distinctiveness;
and (4) enhance your understanding of the social world through application of conceptual frameworks from the
social and behavioral sciences to first-hand engagement with contemporary issues.
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