Charros: How Mexican Cowboys Are Remapping Race and American Identity Volume 54
Laura R. Barraclough
(Author)
Description
In the American imagination, no figure is more central to national identity and the nation's origin story than the cowboy. Yet the Americans and Europeans who settled the U.S. West learned virtually everything they knew about ranching from the indigenous and Mexican horsemen who already inhabited the region. The charro--a skilled, elite, and landowning horseman--was an especially powerful symbol of Mexican masculinity and nationalism. After the 1930s, Mexican Americans in cities across the U.S. West embraced the figure as a way to challenge their segregation, exploitation, and marginalization from core narratives of American identity. In this definitive history, Laura R. Barraclough shows how Mexican Americans have used the charro in the service of civil rights, cultural citizenship, and place-making. Focusing on a range of U.S. cities, Charros traces the evolution of the "original cowboy" through mixed triumphs and hostile backlashes, revealing him to be a crucial agent in the production of U.S., Mexican, and border cultures, as well as a guiding force for Mexican American identity and social movements. Product Details
Price
$114.00
Publisher
University of California Press
Publish Date
June 04, 2019
Pages
304
Dimensions
6.2 X 9.1 X 0.9 inches | 1.2 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780520289116
BISAC Categories:
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Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Laura R. Barraclough is the Sarai Ribicoff Associate Professor of American Studies at Yale University. She is the author of Making the San Fernando Valley: Rural Landscapes, Urban Development, and White Privilege and coauthor of A People's Guide to Los Angeles.
Reviews
"This innovative book . . . presents a particularly insightful intervention into [the debate over American national identity]."-- "Journal of Historical Geography"
"Barraclough has done a highly effective job in telling this story, as well as providing a template for other such research projects."-- "Journal of Arizona History"
"A fresh perspective that steers away from traditional historiographic approaches and joins the nascent literature on Mexican American and southwestern history."-- "Southwestern Historical Quarterly"
"This book offers important contributions about identity and place that are apt to teach in courses ranging from an array of fields."-- "New Mexico Historical Review"
"Barraclough has done a highly effective job in telling this story, as well as providing a template for other such research projects."-- "Journal of Arizona History"
"A fresh perspective that steers away from traditional historiographic approaches and joins the nascent literature on Mexican American and southwestern history."-- "Southwestern Historical Quarterly"
"This book offers important contributions about identity and place that are apt to teach in courses ranging from an array of fields."-- "New Mexico Historical Review"