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On my 39th BDay, I want to highlight 10 SOCIOLOGY 
with insights into Latine Chicago
This is a journey 20 years in the making
(with power outages today... and a thread-deleting freeze before that ... this took me all day to write/re-write, and all summer to prep)
Enjoy!
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with insights into Latine ChicagoThis is a journey 20 years in the making
(with power outages today... and a thread-deleting freeze before that ... this took me all day to write/re-write, and all summer to prep)
Enjoy!
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In 2002, I trekked across the city to libraries, archives, and universities in search of materials on Latine Chicago
At the Lozano Branch of the @chipublib, I first picked up two sociology books as I did research for my BA thesis
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At the Lozano Branch of the @chipublib, I first picked up two sociology books as I did research for my BA thesis
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Set in Pilsen (Lowest West Side), Horowitz' ethnographic data collected 1971-74 & 1977 (when my dad lived there) documents 2 "codes" (not a "culture of poverty", p256, fn1)
Horowitz, Ruth. 1983. "Honor and the American dream: Culture and identity in a Chicano community"
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Horowitz, Ruth. 1983. "Honor and the American dream: Culture and identity in a Chicano community"
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Extending Chicago school of sociology -- & the work of G. Suttles (who kindly marked up my BA thesis) & others -- Horowitz captures structure/agency across domains of:
family-work-masculinity-femininity-school-gangs
And (in a telling chapter) of "being different"
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family-work-masculinity-femininity-school-gangs
And (in a telling chapter) of "being different"
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In Horowitz, we see Pilsen residents navigating a maze of barriers ... with hints of nascent political organizing.
Enter a classic on organizing for change:
Padilla, Felix M. 1985. "Latino Ethnic Consciousness: The Case of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Chicago"
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Enter a classic on organizing for change:
Padilla, Felix M. 1985. "Latino Ethnic Consciousness: The Case of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Chicago"
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If "Latino" mobilizing means anything, it should open doors for bringing groups together (& minimize intra-group opportunity hoarding)
Extending sociological accounts of how competition can activate ethnic boundaries, Padilla documents the 1970s 'Spanish Coalition for Jobs'
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Extending sociological accounts of how competition can activate ethnic boundaries, Padilla documents the 1970s 'Spanish Coalition for Jobs'
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Padilla explains why an Alinsky-type org transitioned from protest to a pan-ethnic conference
Short answer: 2 constituent groups (org leaders + mass base members) under 1 "Latino" umbrella
Of course, other org forms w/ divergent visions & logics also exist (see snapshot)
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Short answer: 2 constituent groups (org leaders + mass base members) under 1 "Latino" umbrella
Of course, other org forms w/ divergent visions & logics also exist (see snapshot)
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In my BA thesis, I relied on Latino Institute (1974-1998) reports for stats & insights into inequalities plus opportunities for empowerment
Padilla tells the story of the Institute's founding, complete with accounts of rifts btwn "reform" vs. "confrontational" visions
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Padilla tells the story of the Institute's founding, complete with accounts of rifts btwn "reform" vs. "confrontational" visions
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Padilla wrote 2 other, trail-blazing books that anticipated later sociological/criminological books on Latine Chicago
"Puerto Rican Chicago" (1987)
"The Gang as an American Enterprise" (1992)
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"Puerto Rican Chicago" (1987)
"The Gang as an American Enterprise" (1992)
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It would be another decade before we got another Latine Chicago book ... which is an analysis of a majority "Hispanic" high school (> 1/2 of whom identified as Puerto Rican)
Flores-González, Nilda. 2002. "School Kids/Street Kids: Identity Development in Latino Students"
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Flores-González, Nilda. 2002. "School Kids/Street Kids: Identity Development in Latino Students"
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Flores-González follows high v. low achievers--unlike homogenous "drop out" accounts
If we learn something novel from "being different" in Pilsen (Horowitz), we likewise see "dropping out" anew from those (in) between school/street: RETURNERS navigating multiple identities
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If we learn something novel from "being different" in Pilsen (Horowitz), we likewise see "dropping out" anew from those (in) between school/street: RETURNERS navigating multiple identities
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On the streets side of the equation, we have 3 books located in Little Village/La Villita (South Lawdale) w/ insights into gangs, violence, & the momumental inertia of structural racism
How did má y pá shield me in La Villita (1989-99)?
Here's how: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716208322577
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How did má y pá shield me in La Villita (1989-99)?
Here's how: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716208322577
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I didn't learn about Spergel's work on gangs (implemented in La Villita btwn 1993 & 1997) until > a decade after it ended
As a researcher at Urban Institute, I first read Spergel while working on a gang networks project led by @CaterinaGRoman: https://urbn.is/342J9oN
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As a researcher at Urban Institute, I first read Spergel while working on a gang networks project led by @CaterinaGRoman: https://urbn.is/342J9oN
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Serious violent gang violence fell in La Villita after the start of the intervention ... compared to similar districts (esp. in Pilsen)
So why did it end?
Listen to Spergel drop the
and all-but-name names
Spoiler: too much support for other (suppression) tactics
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So why did it end?
Listen to Spergel drop the
and all-but-name namesSpoiler: too much support for other (suppression) tactics
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Adding a relational understanding to violence in La Villita is an instant classic by @robvargas21:
Vargas, Robert. "Wounded City: Violent Turf Wars in a Chicago Barrio"
Here we get an account of the tectonic consequences of a myriad of turf battles
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Vargas, Robert. "Wounded City: Violent Turf Wars in a Chicago Barrio"
Here we get an account of the tectonic consequences of a myriad of turf battles
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Vargas details how and where urban violence continues unabated due to fiction btwn:
jagged ward v. 'hood boundaries
independent v. machine politicians
4 different gangs (in tracts w/ disparate homicide contexts)
east vs. west residents
police v. gangs
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jagged ward v. 'hood boundaries independent v. machine politicians 4 different gangs (in tracts w/ disparate homicide contexts) east vs. west residents police v. gangs16/n
By centering turf wars, Vargas' "Wounded City" (2016) helped me further make sense of interviews from my 2003 BA thesis, esp. how competing/racialized visions map onto South/North Lawndale(s)
Here be my nearly 20-year old musings:
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Here be my nearly 20-year old musings:
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Where is the nation's largest, single city County Jail located?
Little Village!
From 26th to 31st St. -- stretching from California to Sacramento Ave. -- the site sits adjacent to where manufacturing industry used to thrive; carved on its NW side by railroad track scars
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Little Village!
From 26th to 31st St. -- stretching from California to Sacramento Ave. -- the site sits adjacent to where manufacturing industry used to thrive; carved on its NW side by railroad track scars
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For a definitive account of the inertia of Crook County as a site of day-to-day reproduction of structural racism, read (as we did in my Race Crime & Justice course)
Van Cleve, Nicole Gonzalez. 2016. "Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court"
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Van Cleve, Nicole Gonzalez. 2016. "Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court"
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In 1995, a heatwave hit Chicago. My sister, Maria, first told me to read a book by @EricKlinenberg about the emergency with tragic - but preventable - consequences (sounds familiar):
Klinenberg, Eric. 2002. "Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago"
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Klinenberg, Eric. 2002. "Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago"
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Ch. 2 juxtaposes North & South Lawndale
Why did 1 neighborhood report a heat-related death rate 10x larger than the other?
Long-standing & structural inequalities accelerated deaths in predominantly-Black North Lawndale
See communities 29 & 30 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3108472
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Why did 1 neighborhood report a heat-related death rate 10x larger than the other?
Long-standing & structural inequalities accelerated deaths in predominantly-Black North Lawndale
See communities 29 & 30 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3108472
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The books above focus on Chicagoland, while 2 books analyze transnational Chicago
[1] Bada, Xóchitl. 2014. "Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán" @XochitlBada
[2] Zamudio Grave, Patricia. 2009. "Rancheros en Chicago" which mi má said is true to life (high praise)
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![The books above focus on Chicagoland, while 2 books analyze transnational Chicago[1] Bada, Xóchitl. 2014. "Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán" @XochitlBada[2] Zamudio Grave, Patricia. 2009. "Rancheros en Chicago" which mi má said is true to life (high praise)22/n](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfgR6P7VAAEItuJ.jpg "The books above focus on Chicagoland, while 2 books analyze transnational Chicago[1] Bada, Xóchitl. 2014. \"Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán\" @XochitlBada[2] Zamudio Grave, Patricia. 2009. \"Rancheros en Chicago\" which mi má said is true to life (high praise)22/n")
![The books above focus on Chicagoland, while 2 books analyze transnational Chicago[1] Bada, Xóchitl. 2014. "Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán" @XochitlBada[2] Zamudio Grave, Patricia. 2009. "Rancheros en Chicago" which mi má said is true to life (high praise)22/n](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfgR6SVUwAAEA08.jpg "The books above focus on Chicagoland, while 2 books analyze transnational Chicago[1] Bada, Xóchitl. 2014. \"Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán\" @XochitlBada[2] Zamudio Grave, Patricia. 2009. \"Rancheros en Chicago\" which mi má said is true to life (high praise)22/n")
[1] Bada, Xóchitl. 2014. "Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán" @XochitlBada
[2] Zamudio Grave, Patricia. 2009. "Rancheros en Chicago" which mi má said is true to life (high praise)
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Finally, in addition to discussing 
Mexican Chicago &
Puerto Rican Chicago...
Cruz also details:
Guatemalan Chicago
Salvadoran Chicago
Cuban Chicago
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Mexican Chicago & Puerto Rican Chicago...Cruz also details:
Guatemalan Chicago Salvadoran Chicago Cuban Chicago23/n
Here's a list of 6 Chicago history books I posted:
https://twitter.com/ijuanathesaurus/status/1281737651662417923
I've yet to highlight 10 Latine Chicago books from anthro, culture, language (those coming eventually)
And I hope to someday add books by @brian_tuohy & @DrMikeAmezcua to these hist + soc lists
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https://twitter.com/ijuanathesaurus/status/1281737651662417923
I've yet to highlight 10 Latine Chicago books from anthro, culture, language (those coming eventually)
And I hope to someday add books by @brian_tuohy & @DrMikeAmezcua to these hist + soc lists
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