Roberto Rodriguez
As America’s Latino diaspora evolves, so does the field
Founded some 30 years ago and at one time believed to be on the verge of extinction, the field of Chicano studies is constantly expanding. As Puerto Rican and Cuban communities grew in the United States in the 1960s and ’70s, so did the demand for fields of study particular to those populations. Now, add to that: Dominican and Central American studies. Peruvian and Colombian studies.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are approximately 35 million Latinos in the country, including the island of Puerto Rico. While approximately 60 percent of all Latinos now living within U.S. borders are of Mexican descent, the immense growth of other Latinos in the country has created large populations of Central Americans — including Dominicans, Colombians and Peruvians — so that this group is now the second-largest Latino population in the country.
But do these different ethnic groups constitute one larger national group — Latinos — or should they continue to be classified as individual regional groups? Should the study of all these groups be housed under Latino or Chicano studies? Or should each group foster its own field of study?
As long as the new fields do not subsume the older disciplines and it is not an either/or situation, this expansion is welcome, say many scholars.
However, others worry more about the ability of Latino scholars — and the scholarship they engage in — to make a real connection with the communities they were created to study, let alone the ability to generate more social action. And as many of the charter members of the Chicano studies field begin to retire, the younger scholars are expanding the definition of Latino studies, not distilling it, which could exacerbate the problem. (more…)
