Francisco Scarano
Benjamin Marquez
Spring 2009
4134 Humanities
311 North Hall
Latino History and Politics
History 414/Political Science 422
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This class will consist primarily of lectures supplemented with videos, and student participation.
We will examine the historical, social, political, economic, and cultural experiences and
conditions of Latinos, the second largest racial/ethnic minority group in the United States. The
focus of the course will be on people who can trace their origins to Mexico, the Caribbean, and
countries of Latin America. The main emphasis will be on the experiences of Mexican
Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans—the three largest U.S. Latino ethnic groups. However,
considerable attention will be given to Dominicans, Salvadorans and many other Latino ethnic
groups that are fast becoming a force in contemporary U.S. society. Although they share many
things in common, Latinos have variegated experiences in the U.S. due to regional and/or
national differences. Their historic modes of incorporation into American society will be
analyzed and discussed, along with their continuing migration patterns, their experiences of
racialization, as well as their current demographic and socio-economic condition. A historical
and comparative sociological perspective will be used throughout the course to help explain
contrasting experiences.
This semester, the course is scheduled to coincide with the Latino and Labor Studies speakers
series sponsored by the Havens Center (http://www.havenscenter.org/). At times indicated in the
syllabus, the class will meet at the public lecture of a scholar who published that week’s
readings. It will be a rare opportunity to read some exciting new research and exchange ideas
with authors at a public forum.
Course Objectives and Goals
To read and discuss an array of materials on Latino Politics
To develop critical reading and thinking and writing skills
To introduce students to the complexity of the Latino population and divergent political
agendas of various subgroups
To develop an understanding of the historical origins of how Latino social/political
movements have emerged and changed
To evaluate the role of movements and activists in policy reform and social/political
change
To examine the impact of the Latino vote on contemporary politics
To explore contemporary policy issues affecting the Latino population
To examine the agency and contributions of Latinos to the process of political and social
change
The following books are available at the Rainbow Bookstore:
Ethel Brooks. Unraveling the Garment Industry.
Jorge Duany. The Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United
States.
Juan Flores. The Diaspora Strikes Back.
Juan Gonzalez. Harvest of Empire.
Benjamin Marquez. Constructing Identities in Mexican American Political Organizations.
Raquel Rivera. New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone.
All assigned readings are on reserve.
Course Requirements
I.
Class Participation
We encourage class participation. Extra credit will be given for thoughtful questions,
arguments and debate. Extra credit will be given for students who present their research
findings at the end of the semester.
II.
Five Book Critiques
Five (5) five-page critiques of the thesis, methods, evidence and conclusions of the
assigned books. Students are required to critique Guidelines will be distributed in class.
Papers are due on the day the books are discussed. All students are required to critique
our first reading, Ben Marquez’s book, Constructing Identities in Mexican American
Political Organizations. Students can then choose among the remaining books to fulfill
the five-critique requirement.
Time will be set aside to discuss all of the assigned readings. In order to facilitate our
critique of the assigned readings, all students will be assigned to a small discussion
group. On the days discussions of the assigned readings are scheduled, students in these
groups will spend about fifteen minutes reading each others papers, offering constructive
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criticism to one another, and raising issues and questions to be brought before the whole
class.
Please note, even if you have not written a book critique during a given week, it is still
essential that you read the assigned books each week before coming to class. It is not
possible to put off any of the readings before the exams and expect to do well in the class.
III.
A Research Paper
A fifteen to twenty page research paper. Guidelines will be distributed in class. The term
paper is due on May 5th. We ask that you turn in both a paper copy and an electronic
copy of your research paper, in PDF or DOC format.
IV.
A Final Examination.
Format to be announced.
Grades will be determined using the following weighing scheme:
Book Critiques..............................25% (5% each)
Term paper....................................35%
Final Exam....................................40%
Class Participation...................up to 5% extra credit
Students must complete all required work in order to be eligible to receive a passing grade in the
course. Make up exams will be given and late papers accepted without a penalty only in the case
of a medical emergency.
Office Hours:
Professor Scarano: Wednesdays 12:30-1:30 (walk-in hour), and Wednesdays 1:30-3:30 and by
appointment; please sign up outside office, 4234 Humanities or by email, fscarano@wisc.edu
Professor Marquez: Wednesdays from 11:00 to 12:00 and 1:15 to 2:15 and by appointment, 311
North Hall. marquez@polisci.wisc.edu
Feel free to make an appointment or drop by during our office hours. We welcome students.
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COURSE OUTLINE/TOPICS
Week One. January 20. An Overview of the Latino Population in the United States.
A. Introduction, assignments, administrative matters [BM & FS]
B. U.S. Latinos: A Profile [BM]
Reading: Marquez. Constructing Identities in Mexican American Political
Organizations.
Week Two January 27. Latino Ethnicity: Culture and Identity
A. Assimilation Theory and the Experience of Latino Immigrants [BM]
B. Discuss Constructing Identities in Mexican American Political Organizations.. [FS
and BM]. Critique due.
Week Three. February 3. Puerto Rico, USA?
A. Puerto Ricans in the American Century: Coloniality, Incorporation, and Nationhood
[FS]
B. The Puerto Rican Status Debate [FS]
Week Four. February 10. Mexican American Civil Rights Movement
A. Historical precedents: The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement [BM]
B. The Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s [BM].
Week Five. February 17. Culture and Negotiation: Latinos in the New Megalopolises
A. Latinos in Los Angeles [BM]
B. Negotiated Latinidad: Culture and Identity in the New Chicago [FS]
Read: Harvest of Empire.
Week Six. February 24. Cuban Exile Politics
A. Cuban Exceptionalism? [FS]
B. Discuss: Harvest of Empire.
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Week Seven. March 3. Globalized Production and Latina Workers
A. Latinas and the Garment Industry in the United States [BM]
B. Video “Maquilapolis [City of Factories].”
Week Eight. March 10. Productivity: Citizenship Claims, Power and the Gendered
Everyday.
ETHEL BROOKS.
Department of Sociology,
Rutgers University
"Unraveling the Garment Industry: Transnational Organizing and Women's Work"
Tuesday, March 10, 4:00 pm, 206 Ingraham.
Reading: Brooks, Unraveling the Garment Industry.
Other presentations by Ethel Brooks:
Open Seminar: "Production, Reproduction and Citizenship in Transnational Perspective"
Wednesday, March 11, 11:00 am, 5257 Humanities.
"Missing Pakistanis: Gender, Citizenship and the War on Terror"
Wednesday, March 11, 4:00 pm, 8417 Social Science
***************Spring Break March 14th – 22nd********************
Week Nine. March 24: Reconfiguring the American Polity Through Latino Incorporation.
GARY SEGURA
Department of Political Science,
Stanford University
"Latino Political Incorporation and an Emerging Democratic Majority? Latinos in the 2008
Presidential Election." Tuesday, March 24, 4:00 pm, 206 Ingraham
Reading:
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Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity: Patterns in Political Mobilization by Naturalized
Latinos Author(s): Adrian D. Pantoja, Ricardo Ramirez, Gary M. Segura Source: Political
Research Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Dec., 2001), pp. 729-750
Fear and Loathing in California: Contextual Threat and Political Sophistication among Latino
Voters Author(s): Adrian D. Pantoja and Gary M. Segura Source: Political Behavior, Vol. 25,
No. 3 (Sep., 2003), pp. 265-286
Earthquakes and Aftershocks: Race, Direct Democracy, and Partisan Change Author(s): Shaun
Bowler, Stephen P. Nicholson, Gary M. Segura Source: American Journal of Political Science,
Vol. 50, No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 146-159
“Race and the Recall: Racial Polarization in the California Recall Election.” 2008. With Luis R.
Fraga. American Journal of Political Science 52 (2): 421-435.
“Commentary on ‘Citizens by Choice Voters by Necessity: Long Term Patterns in Political
Mobilization by Naturalized Latino Voters’.” With Adrian D. Pantoja and Ricardo Ramirez.
2008. Political Research Quarterly, 61 (1): 50-52.
“Immigration and National Identity: An Introduction to a Symposium on Immigration and
National Identity.” Perspectives on Politics, 4(2): 277-278. 2006.
“Culture Clash? Contesting Notions of American Identity and the Effects of Latin American
Immigration.” Perspectives on Politics, 4(2): 279-287. 2006. With Luis Fraga.
“Does Ethnicity Matter? Descriptive Representation in the Statehouse and Political Alienation
Among Latinos.” Social Science Quarterly, 84(2): 441-460. 2003. With Adrian D. Pantoja.
Other presentations by Gary Segura:
"Immigration and Its Discontents: Evaluating the Cultural, Political, and Economic Arguments
about Latin American Immigration on Their (De)Merits." Wednesday, March 25, 4:00 pm, 8417
Social Science
Open Seminar
Thursday, March 26, 12:20 pm, 8108 Social Science
Week Ten. March 31 Latino Culture & Politics
A. Caribbeans in the post-WWII Order [FS]
B. Race, Culture, and Politics among Caribbean (Im)migrants [FS]
Week Eleven. April 7: Transnational Migration from the Hispanic Caribbean.
JORGE DUANY
Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
University of Puerto Rico
“The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Changing Settlement Patterns and Cultural Identities.” Tuesday,
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April 7, 4:00 pm, 206 Ingraham
Reading: The Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United
States.
Other presentations by Jorge Duany:
“The Dominican Diaspora: A Transnational Perspective”
Wednesday, April 8, 4:00 pm, 8417 Social Science.
Open Seminar
Thursday, April 9, 12:20 pm, 8108 Social Science.
Week Twelve. April 14: Reframing Topics in Mexican American History.
MARC RODRIGUEZ
Department of History
University of Notre Dame
"The Tejano Diaspora in Action: Texas, Wisconsin, and the Civil and Labor Rights Movement
of the 1960s" Tuesday, April 14, 4:00 pm, 206 Ingraham
Reading: "A Movement Made of 'Young Mexican Americans Seeking Change': Critical
Citizenship, Migration, and the Chicano Movement in Texas and Wisconsin, 1960-1975"
Western Historical Quarterly (Autumn, 2003).
"Migrants and Citizens: Mexican American Migrant Workers and the War on Poverty in an
American City," in Marc S. Rodriguez (ed.), Repositioning North American Migration History:
New Directions in Modern Continental Migration, Community, and Citizenship (Rochester,
2004).
Hernandez v Texas. http://www.law.uh.edu/hernandez50/347_U_S_475.pdf
Other presentations by Marc Rodriguez:
Open Seminar
Wednesday, April 15, 11:00 am, 5257 Humanities
"The Jury Right in Comparative Context: Reconsidering Hernandez v. Texas"
Wednesday, April 15, 4:00 pm, Lubar Commons (7200 Law School)
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Week Thirteen. April 21: From Bomba to Reggaeton: The Socio-Sonic Circuitry of
Caribbean Latino Music.
RAQUEL RIVERA
Center for Puerto Rican Studies,
Hunter College
“Reggaeton's Socio-Sonic Circuitry: From Jamaica and New York, to Panama, Puerto Rico and
Beyond.” Tuesday, April 21, 4:00 pm, 206 Ingraham.
Reading: New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone.
Other presentations by Raquel Rivera:
“New York Bomba: Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and a Bridge Called Haiti”
Wednesday, April 22, 4:00 pm, 8417 Social Science.
Open Seminar
Thursday, April 23, 12:20 pm, 8108 Social Science
Week Fourteen. April 28 The Diaspora Strikes Back: Cultural Challenges of
Transnational Communities.
JUAN FLORES
Latino Studies,
New York University
“Coming Home to Roost: Rethinking Diaspora and Cultural Remittances”
Tuesday, April 28, 4:00 pm, 206 Ingraham Hall
Reading: The Diaspora Strikes Back.
Other Presentations by Juan Flores:
“Caribeño Counterstream: Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban Diasporas on the Move”
Wednesday, April 29, 4:00 pm, 8417 Social Science
Open Seminar
Thursday, April 30, 12:20 pm, 8108 Social Science
Week Fifteen. May 5: Student presentations & review session.
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