The Immigration Crisis: Nativism, Armed Vigilantism, and the Rise of a Countervailing Movement [Paperback]

Armando Navarro (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0759112096 | ISBN-13: 978-0759112094 | Publication Date: December 16, 2008

Immigration remains one of the most pressing and polarizing issues in the United States. In The Immigration Crisis, the political scientist and social activist Armando Navarro takes a hard look at 400 years of immigration into the territories that now form the United States, paying particular attention to the ways in which immigrants have been received. The book provides a political, historical, and theoretical examination of the laws, personalities, organizations, events, and demographics that have shaped four centuries of immigration and led to the widespread social crisis that today divides citizens, non-citizens, regions, and political parties. As a prominent activist, Navarro has participated broadly in the Mexican-American community's responses to the problems of immigration and integration, and his book also provides a powerful glimpse into the actual working of Hispanic social movements. In a sobering conclusion, Navarro argues that the immigration crisis is inextricably linked to the globalization of capital and the American economy's dependence on cheap labor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Navarro's lifetime activist experience in Chicano/Latino right movements enlivens the text with rare insight, personal reflections, and primary source material from his own meeting notes. Recommended. (Choice )

Armando Navarro has written a most needed and valuable study of the historical origins of Mexican migration to the United States and its continuing importance. This is a must-read for both concerned citizens and policy makers. (Mario T. Garcia )

Navarro skillfully captures the tensions caused by the changing America….The book's greatest value is its encyclopedic quality. It will be reference by scholars of Chicano/a studies and the growing field of immigration studies. (Western Historical Quarterly )

About the Author

Armando Navarro is a political scientist and professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside. He has three decades of experience in community organizing and advocacy, dealing with local, state, national, and international social justice issues that affect Latinos. His previous books include Mexicano Political Experience in Occupied AztlOn,La Raza Unida Party, and The Cristal Experiment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Altamira Press (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0759112096
• ISBN-13: 978-0759112094
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars HORRIBLE, March 12, 2009

By 

A. Bolke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Immigration Crisis: Nativism, Armed Vigilantism, and the Rise of a Countervailing Movement (Paperback)

This book is horrible. I had to read it for a global studies college course, and its completely one-sided. There are numerous typos and the author seems to think that run-on sentences make for easy reading. I wonder if the book was ever edited before it was published.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful, October 3, 2010

By 

banter2345 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Immigration Crisis: Nativism, Armed Vigilantism, and the Rise of a Countervailing Movement (Paperback)

This book is written by a biased author who apparently sides unabashedly with the open borders crowd. He doesn't even try to be objective in his study of the issue, it's all one sided. Don't give this fool any of your money.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Borderline obsessive, November 17, 2009

By 

San Fernando Curt (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Immigration Crisis: Nativism, Armed Vigilantism, and the Rise of a Countervailing Movement (Paperback)

After coming across this book on a mark-down shelf, I'm astounded its price here is $45-$50; obviously, this hefty li'l brick is a standard textbook in Chicano studies classes. Since "multiculturalism" now has achieved totemic status in American academia (among the self-celebratory "cultures" studying themselves, that is), I guess the price is mandated to captive audiences of such pointless indoctination.

Unless you're Trotsky's mom, you're in for a long, hard slog. Navarro seems to think there's a blood-drenched war going on along the border, with vicious gringo "nativists" squashing flatter than tortillas the dreams of put-upon (if illegal) immigrants. Of course, the only thing that can save the day is dumping capitalism and seeking revolutionary consensus of... like... workers. Maybe? The proletariat?... Whatever they're called today, I guess. Like I said, this book is as subtle as a falling anvil and cheery as the flu.

The problems of illegal immigration are complicated, and the violence along the border today mostly is caused by drug gangs from Mexico. Racist violence in this country is front-page EVENT - inadvertently underlining the relative rarity of such outrages. If it was prevalent along the border, we'd have movies, marches and 24-hour Susan Sarandon by now.

The most compelling immigration crisis right now is the phenomenon's disastrous effects on domestic labor - especially unionization - and the exploitaation of the "illegals" themselves by American employers, free to work them long hours for peanuts. Navarro should drop the failed "revolutionary" gibberish and confront reality. This book is obsolete, and tired.