Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US Big City |  | Author: Mike Davis
Publisher: Verso
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $5.89
as of 3/11/2010 10:17 WIT details
You Save: $9.06 (61%)
New (20) Used (36) from $5.89
Seller: danaklb
Rating:  8 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rev Exp
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.7
ISBN: 185984328X
Dewey Decimal Number: 305
EAN: 9781859843284
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Hispanics are quickly transforming the United States both through sheer numbers and their culture, according to Mike Davis. "Salsa is becoming the predominant ethnic flavor--and rhythm--in major metropolitan areas," he writes, and Spanish surnames are growing at five times the rate of the general population (José is now the most popular name for baby boys in California and Texas). Davis, the author of City of Quartz and Ecology of Fear, says the United States is undergoing what he calls "Latin Americanization." In Magical Urbanism, which is short by comparison, he doesn't traffic in tired rhetoric about the magic of multiculturalism or the wonders of ethnic diversity--but he does come down hard against those who resist Latin Americanization. He writes of "an INS police state with sweeping powers away from the border," blasts the opponents of bilingual education, and hopes that Latino immigrants will rejuvenate the American labor movement. The book lacks a strong central thesis; it's more a collection of 15 essays, rich with anecdotes, on topics such as U.S. demographic trends, transnational neighborhoods, and "the Dickensian underworld of day labor." Old fans of Davis will definitely want to check out this latest offering, as will readers interested in a quick look at the face of America's future. --John J. Miller
Product Description
Is the capital of Latin America a small island at the mouth of the Hudson River? Will California soon hold the balance of power in Mexican national politics? Will Latinos reinvigorate the U.S. labor movement? These are some of the provocative questions that Mike Davis explores in this fascinating account of the Latinization of the American urban landscape. As he forcefully shows, this is a demographic and cultural revolution with extraordinary implications. With Spanish-surnames increasing five times faster than the general population, salsa is becoming the predominant ethnic rhythm (and flavor) of contemporary city life. In Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, and (shortly) Dallas, Latinos outnumber non-Hispanic whites; in New York, San Diego and Phoenix, they outnumber blacks. According to the Bureau of the Census, Latinos will supply fully two thirds of the nation's population growth between now and the middle of the 21st century when nearly 100 million Americans will boast Latin American ancestry. Davis focuses on the great drama of how Latinos are attempting to translate their urban demographic ascendancy into effective social power. Pundits are now unanimous that Spanish-surname voters are the sleeping giant of US politics. Though the overall vote in the 1996 elections declined significantly, the Latino share rose by a spectacular 16%. Yet electoral mobilization alone is unlikely to redress the increasing income and opportunity gaps between urban Latinos and suburban non-Hispanic whites. Thus in Los Angeles and elsewhere, the militant struggles of Latino workers and students are reinventing the American left. Magical Urbanism is essential reading for anyone who wants to grasp the future of urban America.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
 Searing prose & difficult truths November 22, 2002
me
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
Although each chapter takes on a different topic--bilingual education, anti-Latino violence, the politics of school funding and the staggeringly high Latino drop-out rate, and labor divisions and income discrepancies, to name a few--a unifying theme is present throughout. Essentially, the book describes the Latino influx, particularly that of the past ten or so years, the effects it has had on U.S. cities, and the Anglo backlash to this "Latinization." Obnoxious back-cover review excerpts not withstanding, the "Magical Urbanism" is not about Jennifer Lopez and the new Anglatin popular culture; it addresses more substantial issues than such reviews give it credit for. The numbers Davis presents are disturbing, but the reasons for finding them so will depend on your perspective: For those who seek to preserve the current Anglo power stucture, the degree of Latinization that the country is undergoing (or simply the sheer number of Hispanics it is absorbing) will be terrifying. To those more sympathetic to the plight of people of color seeking to gain a foothold in this country, the details about the poor living conditions and antipathy toward Latinos will be equally disturbing. The book focuses primarily on New York, Miami, Chicago, and especially southern California, but it provides a good overview of the Latino Condition--though it is worth noting that Davis never loses sight of the heterogeniety of the various peoples encompassed by the term "Latino"--nationwide. Don't let the gravity of the subject matter throw you, though, if you're simply looking for a compelling read; Davis is a master of his art, and "Magical Urbanism" is as hard to put down as a good novel.
 Hypothetical, Not Inevitable June 23, 2001
Paul Frandano (Reston, Va. USA)
24 out of 28 found this review helpful
Mike Davis is our premier bare-knuckled Marxist-savant polemicist, doing prodigious amounts of research on important topics and writing in a molten style that literally pulls your eyes down the page. For these reasons alone, attention must be paid. (This is difficult advice to a nation of "comfort readers," who--far from being provoked by their nighttime reading--love to curl up with a good Danielle Steele until the Sandman comes.) Whatever other functions a Davis book serves, it's an in-your-face test of the reader's mettle. ... Davis paints what seems to me a more than plausible vision of a Hispanic/Latino future that I'll bet you haven't given much thought to (unless you live in SoCal or along the southern border). One useful thing about demography is that a simple extrapolation will get the analyst to several plausible hypotheses about things to come. This is one service Davis has performed. One of the useful mental exercises Davis sends you off on once he makes his preliminary case (of a Latino/Hispanic plurality by 2050) prompts you to comtemplate the coming contours of national level politics, immigration policy, relations with Central and Latin America--in other words, this book can rattle your mental universe. And his chapter on "transnational suburbs"--in which he analyzes bilocated Latino communities that, in our internet and cheap-transportation age, retain a deep involvement in both their native and immigrant communities--is, for me, worth the price of the book. This is a useful tutorial about the drift of our demographic destiny in a "globalized" world, but the picture Davis paints is by no means inevitable. Second and third generation immigrant communities tend to assimilate to the dominant culture through a variety of means (although Davis tends to argue that contemporary immigrant communities are driven by walls of discrimination back upon themselves in ways earlier immigrants in the second and third generations were not). The future is seldom, in any significant respect, a straight-line extrapolation of any trend. And Davis's great hope for the mobilization of the heretofore inchoate political might of the new immigrant communities--a revivified labor movement--seems, at best, a pipe dream, but one that more than a few commentators see well within the realm of possibility, as income differentials widen and a pronounced underclass sentiment proliferates among the have-nots. In all, a quick, stimulating, worthy read. And for those parents who wonder which language little Johnny should study in high school, or in his language immersion pre-school, David would probably say--and I'd have to agree--Spanish is a good choice. Venceremos!
Interesting, but nothing really new May 20, 2000
11 out of 18 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book as a quick summary of the "Latino/Hispanic Experience" in the United States. The writing was comprehensive and interesting, and the facts seemed well-substantiated. Some of the information provided was quite shocking, and served its purpose of creating awareness of the continuing inequalities in our society. Overall, very nicely done.
....and mystical gang bangers rejuvenate small town USA October 31, 2003
12 out of 36 found this review helpful
Davis is sympathetic, but like a typical lefty, places his faith in the labor movement to unite the diverse groups of latinos migrating to US cities. Yeah right. Another pipe-dream that the left can smoke. Hey Mike, how do like Hawaii? Come check out the ****holes like Modesto, Fresno, Salinas and other enclaves in CA that Mexicans are 'reinventing' and then blow back to the islands for your next book on how racist whites are for failing to accept this ridiculous fate for their home states and regions. The heck with the racist angle, how about the population question. How wonderful the world will be when CA has 60 million people, many of them poor, plenty in gangs, and ignorant. Or is that world already here? Aloha.
I gave this book 4 stars because the author's views are old school commie, a rare perspective to maintain as the world fails apart from both capitalist and communist excess.
 Davis Does It Again May 9, 2004
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Mike Davis's political writings focus on Latinos in Los Angeles in this book. Of course, this book NEEDED to be written given how Latinos were largely absent in his CITY OF QUARTZ. I agree with the reviewer who says there is nothing really new here; Davis repeats a lot of what Latino scholars have already said (check out his footnotes). On the whole, a decent introduction to Latinos in urban contexts.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
|
|
|
|
