The Latina/o population in the United States has become the largest minority group in the nation. Latinas/os are a mosaic of people, representing different nationalities and religions as well as different levels of education and income. This edited volume uses a multidisciplinary approach to document how Latinas and Latinos have changed and continue to change the face of America. It also includes critical methodological and theoretical information related to the study of the Latino/a population in the United States.

A penetrating analysis of the construction of Latina/o stardom in U.S. film, television, and celebrity culture since the 1920s

The U.S. mainstream media have a love and hate relationship with Latina/os. On the one hand the media treat as hot property such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera; on the other they contribute to the role of Latina/os as eternal foreigners, having continually to assert their belonging and citizenship. Latina/os and the Media brings together the scholarship of communication studies scholars working on issues of Latinidad and presents it in a coherent, vibrant and accessible form to shed light on the complex relationship between Latina/os and the media. Latina/os and the Media includes the coverage of the following: the participation of Latina/os in media production; the forms in which Latina/os are represented in media; the ways that Latina/os interpret media and that other audiences interpret Latina/os in the media; and the social scientific effects of the forms in which Latina/os are represented on Latina/os in particular and culture at large. The book draws on a rich set of examples to illustrate its conclusions. It will be the first port of call for anyone wanting to know about the relationship between Latina/os and the media, including for those students taking classes on minorities and the media, or issues around race and diversity.

The presence and impact of Hispanics/Latinos in the United States cannot be ignored. Already the largest minority group, by 2050 their numbers will exceed all the other minority groups in the United States combined. The diversity of this population is often understated, but the people differ in terms of their origin, race. language, custom, religion, political affiliation, education and economic status. The heterogeneity of the Hispanic/Latino population raises questions about their identity and their rights: do they really constitute a group? That is, do they have rights as a group, or just as individuals? This volume, addresses these concerns through a varied and interdisciplinary approach.

Latinas/os on the East Coast: A Critical Reader provides a comprehensive overview of established and contemporary research and essays written about communities that represent the Latina/o diaspora on the East Coast of the United States. Collectively, it contributes to the historical, cultural, political, and economic dynamics that affect the Latinas/os' lived experience of the country. Analyzed through an interdisciplinary lens, this reader offers a critical examination of the policies and the practices that affect the following current and emerging themes and topics: History; Ethnicity and culture; Immigration, transnationalism, and civil rights; Education; Health; Women's studies; Film and media studies; Queer studies; Literature; Visual and performing arts. This book is an indispensable resource for scholars, researchers, educators, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as any individual, group, or organization interested in issues that affect Latinas/os in the United States in current times.

The New Latino Studies Reader is designed as a contemporary, updated, multifaceted collection of writings that bring to force the exciting, necessary scholarship of the last decades. Its aim is to introduce a new generation of students to a wide-ranging set of essays that helps them gain a truer understanding of what it’s like to be a Latino in the United States. With the reader, students explore the sociohistorical formation of Latinos as a distinct panethnic group in the United States, delving into issues of class formation; social stratification; racial, gender, and sexual identities; and politics and cultural production. And while other readers now in print may discuss Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Central Americans as distinct groups with unique experiences, this text explores both the commonalities and the differences that structure the experiences of Latino Americans. Timely, thorough, and thought-provoking, The New Latino Studies Reader provides a genuine view of the Latino experience as a whole.