The Research Agenda--The US is in the mist of unprecedented

change.--How will US population look like in

2050?--Future of the US linked to fortunes of a

heterogeneous mix of `peoples.’--By 2050, 100-plus million Latinos will

be in the US—i.e. between 25% & 30% of the population

The Research Agenda--

--”...generous definition of Latinos: that segment of the US population that traces its descent to the Spanish-speaking, Caribbean, and Latin American worlds”

The Research Agenda--

” The term Latino is a new and ambiguous invention.”

The Research Agenda--Principles

A.)”…an emerging filed [Latino Studies] that must tolerate—indeed thrive—on ambiguity.”

B.)”…multidisciplinary work subverts the reductionistic impulses common to many disciplinary enterprises.”

C,)”…is comparative in nature.”

The Research Agenda--

--”…the tired and facile ‘Latinos are-a-big-family’ glosses over the contradictions, tensions, and fissures--around class, race, and color--that often separate them ”

The Research Agenda--

--”Bluntly, what does an English-speaking third-generation upper-crust white Cuban American in Florida have in common with Maya-speaking recent immigrant from Guatemala? ”

The Research Agenda--”…Latinos is a new and

ambiguous invention. It is a cultural category that has no precise racial signification, …upon entering the US, Latinos undergo a rapid change of racializations.”

The Research Agenda--

”…we choose the term Latino over Hispanic--a term that emphasizes the population’s link with ‘Hispania’, or Spain.”

The Research Agenda--

”...vectors of race and color, gender, socioeconomic status, language, immigrant status, and mode of incorporation into the US shape their experiences.”

The Research Agenda--

”The term Latino has meaning only in reference to the US experience.”

The Research Agenda--”Indeed, to date the vast majority of the scholarship on Latinos has tended to focus on individual subgroups—i.e. Chicanos.”

The Research Agenda--”…case for broader scholarly

analysis at the pan-ethnic level can be made along at least three general principles:

1.) Politics2.) Theoretical

considerations3.) Socio-historical themes

The Research Agenda--POLITICS:

a.) `monolithic’ approach b.) political empowermentc.) state level dynamicsd.) future implicationse.) immigration

The Research Agenda--Theoretical considerations

a.) trans-nationalism b.) language c.) demonizing

immigrants

The Research Agenda--theoretical considerations

b.) language--bilingual education--English-only statutes--signifying sub-ethnic--monolingualism--hindrance or asset?

The Research Agenda--Sociohistorical themes:

a.) Immigration experienceb.) changing nature of US relations with Latin Americac.) process of racialization as Latinos enter the US and complicate the powerful “black-white” binary logic

The Research Agenda--Sociohistorical themes:

a.) Immigration experience, types

1.) uninterrupted--i.e. Mexico

2.) time limited waves--i.e. El Salvador

3.) circular migration--i.e. Dominican Republic

The Research Agenda--Socio-historical themes:

a.) Immigration experience

“Hemispheric citizens”

*****remittances*****

The Research Agenda--Socio-historical themes:

a.) Immigration experience

“every Latino subgroup shares the experience of settling in this country and engaging in a process of social. economic, and cultural adaptation.”

The Research Agenda--Socio-historical themes:

b.) changing nature of US relations with Latin America

“The story of the Latino population of the US can be fully articulated only against the backdrop of the historical, political, and economic relationship between the US and Latin America.”

The Research Agenda--Socio-historical themes:

--1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

--1898 Puerto Rico becomes US possession

”We are here because you were there”

Review Questions1.) Why Latino rather than Hispanic?

2.) What are the three principles for conducting scholarly analysis on Latinos?

3.) What are the issues with regards to language?

4.) What are the three types of immigration?

5.) What is meant by a “hemispheric citizen?

6.) What is meant by, “We are here because you were there”?