Synopses & Reviews
During the past ten years, legal and political changes in the United States have dramatically altered the legalization process for millions of undocumented immigrants and their families. Faced with fewer legalization options, immigrants without legal status and their supporters have organized around the concept of the family as a political subjectandmdash;a political subject with its rights violated by immigration laws.and#160;
Drawing upon the idea of the andldquo;impossible activismandrdquo; of undocumented immigrants, Amalia Pallares argues that those without legal status defy this andldquo;impossibleandrdquo; context by relying on the politicization of the family to challenge justice within contemporary immigration law. The culmination of a seven-year-long ethnography of undocumented immigrants and their families in Chicago, as well as national immigrant politics,Family Activismand#160;examines the three ways in which the family has become politically significant: as a political subject, as a frame for immigrant rights activism, and as a symbol of racial subordination and resistance.and#160;
By analyzing grassroots campaigns, churches and interfaith coalitions, immigrant rights movements, and immigration legislation, Pallares challenges the traditional familial idea, ultimately reframing the family as a site of political struggle and as a basis for mobilization in immigrant communities. and#160;
Review
andquot;In this compelling and highly original work, Pallaresand#160;illustrates how Latino activists frame the family to contestand#160;immigrants' negative representation and to make counterclaims onand#160;behalf of unauthorized and mixed-status families.andquot;
Review
andquot;Family Activism is a timely, compelling, and significant contribution to understanding the desperation experienced by immigrant families, by women and children, and by undocumented youth raised in the United States because of the ever-present fear of deportationandmdash;a must read!andquot;
Review
"This book offers the most incisive, compelling treatment of community organizing that I have seen. As a study of the strategic challenges of community-based action, it is not only authoritative but also highly original in its combination of sure-handed historical grasp, careful intellectual critique, and practical engagement with important community efforts taking place on the ground."
Review
"This book could not be more timely. DeFilippis, Fisher, and Shragge give us a seriously analytical yet readable discussion of the possibilities and limits of locally based organizing. A major contribution to the ongoing debates about community and social movement organizing."
Review
"Contesting Community is a valuable asset for political radic
Review
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Contesting Community is an excellent historical analysis of the evolution of community practice. This book is valuable reading for scholars, graduate students and practitioners in sociology, social work, public administration, public health or political science."
Review
"an engaging and provocative critique of the evolution of neoliberalism and its impact on communities and community organizing."
Review
"Contesting Community is a refreshing and important book which looks at the current state of community organizing in America, Canada, and the United Kingdom from a critical perspective. It should be required reading for scholars and students interested in community work, community sociology and social change, and communitarianism as a theory."
Review
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Contesting Community calls for a 'wider, larger-scale, and longer-term movement for social change'. Community organizing as a process of movement-building is a process of learning in struggle. This book is a contribution to that learning."
Review
"This is a timely and potentially significant book that goes a long way toward bringing up to date the literature on community organizing and community development."
Synopsis
Drawing upon the idea of the andldquo;impossible activismandrdquo; of undocumented immigrants, Amalia Pallares argues that those without legal status defy this andldquo;impossibleandrdquo; context by relying on the politicization of the family to challenge justice within contemporary immigration law. The culmination of a seven-year-long ethnography of undocumented immigrants and their families in Chicago, as well as national immigrant politics, Family Activism examines the ways in which the family has become politically significant.
Synopsis
What do community organizations and organizers do, and what should they do? Contesting Community addresses one of the vital issues of our day-the role and meaning of community in people's lives and in the larger political economy.It paints a more critical picture of community work which, according to the authors-in both theory and practice-has amounted to less than the sum of its parts. Their comparative study of efforts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada describes and analyzes the limits and potential of this work.
Synopsis
What do community organizations and organizers do, and what should they do? For the past thirty years politicians, academics, advocates, and activists have heralded community as a site and strategy for social change. In contrast, Contesting Community paints a more critical picture of community work which, according to the authors--in both theory and practice--has amounted to less than the sum of its parts. Their comparative study of efforts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada describes and analyzes the limits and potential of this work.
Covering dozens of groups, including ACORN, Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue Committee, and the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal, and discussing alternative models, this book is at once historical and contemporary, global and local. Contesting Community addresses one of the vital issues of our day--the role and meaning of community in people's lives and in the larger political economy.
About the Author
JAMES DeFILIPPIS is an associate professor in the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. He is the author of
Unmaking Goliath, named Best Book in Urban Politics by the American Political Science Association.
ROBERT FISHER is a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. He is the author of several books on community organizing.
ERIC SHRAGGE teaches in the School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University, Montreal and is the author and editor of several works on community organizing and development.
Table of Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Immigrant Rights Activism and the Family Paradox
1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Reunification to Separation
2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; A Tale of Sanctuary: Agency, Representativity, and Motherhood
3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Regarding Family: From Local to National Activism
4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Our Youth, Our Families: DREAM Act Politics and Neoliberal Nationalism
Conclusion:Moving Beyond the Boundaries
Notes
References
Index