Deborah Vargas, et al., “Keywords for Latina/o Studies” (NYU Press, 2017)

In Keywords for Latina/o Studies (NYU Press, 2017) editors Deborah Vargas, Nancy Raquel Mirabal, and Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes engage many of the fields top scholars in a critical and generative dialogue surrounding the primary concepts and themes that shape the dynamic and interdisciplinary field of Latina/o Studies. Through sixty-three short but informative essays, Keywords for Latina/o Studies provides a common vocabulary for a field that has been in a constant state of evolution since its establishment half a century ago. Being careful not to overly circumscribe the field’s boundaries, the essays within this anthology exemplify the breadth and liveliness of the ideas, debates, and questions that drive the production of transnational, comparative, and intersectional scholarship surrounding the peoples and communities commonly referred to as Latina/o. Accessible and engaging, this collection is an essential primer and reference for anyone interested in the field of Latina/o studies. David-James Gonzales (DJ) is a Postdoctoral Scholar and Teaching Fellow in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California. He is a historian of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, the development of multi-ethnic/racial cities, and the evolution of Latina/o identity and politics. His research centers on the intersection of Latina/o civic engagement and politics on the metropolitan development of Orange County, CA throughout the twentieth century. You may follow him on Twitter @djgonzoPhD.