Synopses & Reviews
Winner of the 2010 Distinguished Book Award in Latino Studies from the Latin American Studies AssociationIllegal immigrant, tax burden, job stealer. Patriot, family oriented, hard worker, model consumer. Ever since Latinos became the largest minority in the U.S. they have been caught between these wildly contrasting characterizations leaving us to wonder: Are Latinos friend or foe?
Latino Spin cuts through the spin about Latinos' supposed values, political attitudes, and impact on U.S. national identity to ask what these caricatures suggest about Latinos' shifting place in the popular and political imaginary. Noted scholar Arlene Dávila illustrates the growing consensus among pundits, advocates, and scholars that Latinos are not a social liability, that they are moving up and contributing, and that, in fact, they are more American than "the Americans." But what is at stake in such a sanitized and marketable representation of Latinidad? Dávila follows the spin through the realm of politics, think tanks, Latino museums, and urban planning to uncover whether they effectively challenge the growing fear over Latinos' supposedly dreadful effect on the "integrity" of U.S. national identity. What may be some of the intended or unintended consequences of these more marketable representations in regard to current debates over immigration?
With particular attention to what these representations reveal about the place and role of Latinos in the contemporary politics of race, Latino Spin highlights the realities they skew and the polarization they effect between Latinos and other minorities, and among Latinos themselves along the lines of citizenship and class. Finally, by considering Latinos in all their diversity, including their increasing financial and geographic disparities, Dávila can present alternative and more empowering representations of Latinidad to help attain true political equity and intraracial coalitions.
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"Will become a standard." - Rodney Taylor, University of Colorado at Boulder
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"Will become a standard."-Rodney Taylor,University of Colorado at Boulder
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" is a must read for students as well as a general public concerned with the future role of Latinos in U.S. society. Dávila also lays the foundation for understanding events that have occurred since the book's publication."-Journal of American Ethnic History,
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"Davila's argument is compelling."
-San Francisco Chronicle,
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"Her invaluable scholarly treatment unearths the competing interests and race-inflected ideological tendencies behind characterizations of Latino political identity in the mainstream media."-Publishers Weekly,
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"The finest, fiercest and most piercing of our public intellectuals . . . Dávila is a force of nature. In Latino Spin Dávila elegantly unravels the media driven sleight-of-hand that simultaneously celebrates an uber-American (and almost entirely manufactured) Latino middle class while demonizing recent Latino immigrants and the poor folks who resemble them. On a line by line, idea by idea basis Dávila is simply without peer, her scholarship essential to our understanding of our New America."-Junot Díaz,author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Drown
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"Arlene Dávila depicts the frenzied efforts of post-industrial America to corral more than 40 million diverse Latinos into a single homogenized market. Whether it's peddling consumer goods, monetizing art and culture, engineering barrio land development, or shaping a new political voting bloc, Latino Spin brilliantly dissects Hispanic-American reality in the 21st century."-Juan Gonzalez,New York Daily News columnist and author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America
Synopsis
Though they are intimately related, most textbooks cover either religious studies or theology, leaving students lacking in exposure to one or the other of these associated disciplines.
Religious Studies and Theology: An Introduction offers a comprehensive introduction to both subjects in one inclusive volume.
The text is written in an accessible style and is meant for beginning students and all those interested in learning about these fields. It is divided into six sections, including Theories of Religion; World Religions; Biblical Studies; Practical Theology; Systematic Theology; and The Philosophy of Religion. The volume also contains a guide for further reading as well as boxes to explain key terms. Offering thorough and cutting-edge coverage of all aspects of these fields, it is the only introduction to the whole of religious studies and theology in a single-volume format.
Contributors: Douglas J. Davies, Seth D. Kunin, Hugh Goddard, Martin A. Mills, Matthew Wood, F. Michael Perko, Paul Ellingworth, Ken Aitken, Helen K. Bond, John Swinton, Henry R. Sefton, Francesca Aran Murphy, and Derek Cross.
About the Author
Helen Bond is Lecturer in New Testament, Language, Literature and Theology at the University of Edinburgh.
Seth D. Kunin is Head of the School of Divinity and Religious Studies and
Francesca Murphy is Reader in Systematic Theology, both at the University of Aberdeen.
Francesca Murphy is Reader in Systematic Theology, both at the University of Aberdeen.