This study argues for a radically new interpretation of the origins and evolution of the ethnic Mexican community across the US. This book offers a definitive account of the interdependent histories of the US and Mexico as well as the making of the Chicano population in America. The authors link history to contemporary issues, emphasizing the overlooked significance of late 19th and 20th century US economic expansionism to Europe in the formation of the Mexican community.

Raul E. Fernandez and Gilbert G. Gonzalez are both professors in the School of Social Sciences at the University California, Irvine, and are affiliated with the Chicano Latino Studies Program. Gonzalez is the director the program in Labor Studies, and Fernandez is a Fulbright Fellow serving as the curator for a forthcoming exhibit on Latin music at the Smithsonian Institution.

Introduction1. Chicano History: Transcending Cultural Models2. Empire and the Origins of 20th Century Migration from Mexico to the United States3. The Ideology and Practice of Empire: The U. S., Mexico and Mexican Immigrants4. Agency, Gender and Migration5. The Integration of Mexican Workers into the U. S. Economy6. Denying Empire: The Journal of American History on the Ideological WarpathConclusion: Chicano History into the Twenty-First Century