In the 1960s and 1970s, an energetic new social movement emerged among Mexican Americans. Fighting for civil rights and celebrating a distinct ethnic identity, the Chicano Movement had a lasting impact on the United States, from desegregation to bilingual education.
Rethinking the Chicano Movement provides an astute and accessible introduction to this vital grassroots movement. Bringing together different fields of research, this comprehensive yet concise narrative considers the Chicano Movement as a national, not just regional, phenomenon, and places it alongside the other important social movements of the era. Rodriguez details the many different facets of the Chicano movement, including college campuses, third-party politics, media, and art, and traces the development and impact of one of the most important post-WWII social movements in the United States.
Introduction: Mexican Americanism and the Long Chicano Movement
Chapter 1: A Growing Militancy: The Farm Workers in California and Political Activism in Texas
Chapter 2: The New Urban Politics: Chicanos and The War on Poverty
Chapter 3: Youth and the Campus: Chicano Students and Chicano Education
Chapter 4: News and the Movement: Newspapers and Ideas in the Chicano Movement
Chapter 5: Art and the Movement: Chicano Murals and Community Space
Conclusion: Rethinking to Move Forward
Bibliography
Biography
Marc Simon Rodriguez is Associate Professor of history at Portland State University and the managing editor of the Pacific Historical Review.
"With Rethinking the Chicano Movement, Marc Simon Rodriguez has artfully placed El Movimiento into its rightful place in American civil rights history. Rethinking is a critical addition to the undergraduate classroom, a significant reinterpretation of the movement’s legacy, and an exceptional read for anyone interested in Mexican American and civil rights history. This book is a must read."
—Michael Innis-Jiménez, author of Steel Barrio: Mexican Migration to South Chicago, 1915-1940"This book offers a compelling narrative of the Chicano movement, bringing to light its broad history, successes and limitations, as well as much new information on the struggle. Rethinking the Chicano Movement is a tremendously ambitious and important work."
—Brian D. Behnken, author of Fighting Their Own Battles: Mexican Americans, African Americans, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Texas
"Rodriguez has written an interesting and fresh interpretation of the Chicano movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is an exciting book combining dramatic chapters with an insightful and balanced analysis. Historians will welcome this superbly rendered synthesis. It is ideally suited for students seeking to understand the social ferment that surrounded the Chicano struggle for equality and justice."
—Zaragosa Vargas, author of Crucible of Struggle: A History of Mexican America from Colonial Times to the Present
