Introduction
Chapter 1. Salt of the Earth
Chapter 2. Brown-Eyed Soul
Chapter 3. Chico and Kotter
Chapter 4. No Human Being Is Illegal
Chapter 5. Border Reggae
Coda: Ngātahi
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Luis Alvarez is an associate professor of history at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of The Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance during World War II.
Chicanx Utopias sets a new standard of excellence for the study of
the politics of culture and the culture of politics. Luis Alvarez
has crafted a magnificent book that shows how films, music, poster
art, and television programs became contested terrains attendant to
the Chicano movement for dignity, self-definition, and
self-determination. His erudition, imagination, and impressive
ability to roam across different cultural forms enable Alvarez to
show how social movements shake up social life. This book will
transform in significant and lasting ways scholarship in social
history, ethnic studies, and cultural studies.
— George Lipsitz, University of California, Santa Barbara,
author of How Racism Takes Place
Chicanx Utopias moves like a musical score with break beats,
pauses, and time changes, that is, a score that moves across genres
of pop culture—TV, movies, theater, and frontera soundscapes. It is
a cultural history of a radical imaginary that demonstrates that
these dreams and imaginaries always contained the seeds of possible
new worlds. Luis Alvarez brings Chicana/o/x studies in conversation
with the vast, complicated, and often contradictory literatures on
utopia—readers will buzz over this study and scholars will be
inspired by this book’s transformative achievements.— Alan Gomez,
Arizona State University, author of The Revolutionary Imaginations
of Greater Mexico: Chicana/o Radicalism, Solidarity Politics, and
Latin American Social Movements
[Chicanx Utopias] opens new doors for understanding the complicated
relationships that exist among television, film, music, art,
people, politics, and social movements from the post-World War II
years to the 2000s...This book is a valuable addition to the
various conversations happening in Latinx/Chicanx studies, ethnic
studies, cultural studies and many other disciplines.— Southwestern
Historical Quarterly
Alvarez’s focus on utopias is a fresh take on Chicanx cultural
history...Alvarez’s expansive interdisciplinary
scholarship—covering over five decades of Chicanx popular
culture—makes Chicanx Utopias an important addition to the fields
of Chicanx cultural studies, Chicanx history, and pop culture
studies, and to the scholarship on utopias.— Aztlán: A Journal of
Chicano Studies
[Alvarez] provides a passionate, in-depth analysis of the social
impact of these cultural productions, incorporating historical
accounts, film assessments, and primary materials. An insightful
analysis of Chicanx pop culture, this volume is sure to inspire new
directions in future research on this subject. Every library should
obtain a copy for its Chicanx studies and ethnic studies
collections.— CHOICE
A comprehensive source on Chicanx popular culture... The book seems
to be resourceful both for those interested in Chicanx (pop)
culture and politics as well as for those studying the general
connection between the media and political discourse. Furthermore,
the book not only is a well-researched academic source contributing
to the relevant literature but also proves to be an easy-to-follow
read for the more casual reader.— H-Net Reviews
There is a long, rich tradition of scholarly attention to the study
of utopia. Within this tradition, however, is the dearth of
attention given to utopia in Chicanx history and culture . . . Any
reader seeking the opportunity to learn about forms of utopia in
Chicanx popular culture and varied examples of Chicanx popular
culture will not be disappointed. . . . Chicanx Utopias carves a
narrow analytical path through a broad field of cultural
references, resulting in an impressive, additive contribution to
Latinx studies, history, and popular culture.— Journal of American
Culture
Chicanx Utopias is a valuable and timely study. The book's
accessible writing style, focus on pop culture, and attention to
how class, race, and gender intersect(ed) in the lives and works of
the artists it discusses make it an important addition to
contemporary Chicanx/Latinx studies.— Journal of American History
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