The Latino Question: Politics, Labouring Classes and the Next Left - Paperback

by Armando Ibarra (Joint Author), Alfredo Carlos (Joint Author), Rodolpho D. Torres (Joint Author)

*Winner of the Latino Politics Book Award 2019*

While so many Latino/Chicano Americans struggle in pursuit of the 'American dream', while figures such as Donald Trump are accepted in mainstream politics, and scaremongering and paranoia is rife, the need for a vivid, empirically grounded study on Latino politics, culture and society has never been greater.

The Latino Question fulfils this need, offering a cutting-edge analysis of the transformative nature of Latino politics in the US. In a radical alternative to dominant ideas, the authors emphasise the importance of political economy for understanding Latino politics, culture and social issues. It draws from original research and a number of critical traditions including the thought of Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci, to understand the politics of race and ethnicity in a modern capitalist society.

Including case studies of how Latino/Chicano communities across the US are not only resisting, but also reinventing and transforming ethnic politics in the age of neoliberalism, this book is required reading for all those hoping to understand the 'Latino question' in contemporary America.

Author Biography

Rodolfo D. Torres is professor of urban planning, political science, and Chicano and Latino studies, and director of the Latino Urban Theory Lab at the University of California, Irvine. Armando Ibarra is associate professor in the School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is coeditor with Torres of Man of Fire: Selected Writings of Ernesto Galarza. Alfredo Carlos is a faculty member in political science and Chicano Latino studies at California State University, Long Beach as well as the executive director of the Foundation for Economic Democracy.