Chicano Studies: The Genesis of a Discipline

Acknowledgments

Like most acknowledgments, mine are tied to my life. As part of an attempt to bring my wife to the Department of Women ’s Studies at Arizona State University (ASU), in the fall of 1995 the Hispanic Research Center offered me a postdoctoral fellowship so that I could change the direction of my research agenda and become part of the Department of Chicano(a) Studies. I had received my doctorate in European history in 1987. Unfortunately, my attempts to link my dissertation work on British economic thought with ethnic studies had been unsuccessful. One journal reviewer found my attempt to look at eighteenth-century Scottish thought through the lens of ethnic studies and Chicano(a) Studies “barbaric.” At ASU’s Hispanic Research Center I began the transition to becoming a scholar in the field of Chicano(a) and Latino(a) Studies. This book is part of the result of that transformation . I thank the center, especially its director, Felipe Castro, for their support. I would also like to thank my colleagues at ASU: Mary Romero, Eric Margolis, and (in a bizarre way) Ray Padilla. Sadly, the Department of Chicano(a) Studies at Arizona State decided that I did not fit their needs. We returned to southern California , where I reestablished my relationship with Chicano(a) and Latino(a) Studies scholars in the area. With their help I was able to continue my exploration of Chicano(a) Studies as a discipline. In particular, I would like to thank Ray Rocco, Bill de la Torre, Mary Pardo, Adolfo Bermeo , Rudy Acuña, Tony Hernandez, Raoul Contreras, Jose Calderon, Marta Lopez-Garza, David Hayes-Bautista, and the Chabráns (Angie Chabram-Desnersesian, Richard, and Rafael Chabrán). I found that many of my questions could not be answered through printed sources alone. I turned to archivists and librarians, who guided me to materials that helped me discover ever more questions. Richard Chabrán, who at that time was the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) Acknowledgments Acknowledgments librarian, played the role of Virgil, as he led me through the confusing history of Chicano(a) Studies. I spent many hours exploring the UCLA CRSC archives and having Richard clarify what I was reading. When he was too busy, his well-trained assistants (such as Romelia Salinas) came to the rescue. I would also like to thank the folks at UCLA’s University Archives, in particular Dennis Bitterlich. At the University of California–Berkeley, I would like to thank the many individuals at the Bancroft and Ethnic Studies Library, in particular , Lillian Castillo-Speed. I would also like to thank Christine Marin, who worked in Special Collections at the Hayden Library at Arizona State University. I would like to thank the editors of Latino Studies Journal, Latin American Perspectives, and Ethnic Studies Review for publishing earlier versions of my ideas. For their support and friendship, I would like to thank my colleagues at Santa Monica College and now at the Department of Chicano Studies at California State University–Los Angeles. I would like to thank a few scholars who set me on this path. While I am now a different type of historian, my intellectual development arose from my discourse with their positions and ideas. I wish to thank Jasper Blystone at Loyola Marymount University. In the history department at UCLA, I want to recognize Amos Funkenstein, Norton Wise, Russell Jacoby, and Robert Brenner, who chaired my dissertation committee. This book would not have been possible without the critical eyes of Maria Angelina Soldatenko and our two sons, Gabriel and Adrian, as well as our daughter, Rosie Salazar. I want to thank Adrian, for interrupting his work on his doctorate in physics to read this manuscript ; Gabriel, for spirited discussions about my particular readings of Foucault given his philosophical training; and Rosie, who kept us going with fine sustenance. Of course, Gela has always been there to point out when my gender, heterosexual, and race privileges have bubbled to the surface. I would like to thank the University of Arizona Press for their editorial assistance, in particular freelance editor Amy Smith Bell. Last but not least, gratitude must be given to our juguetones pugs that always alerted us when we became too serious. Although many people have helped me work through my ideas, I alone am at fault for any inaccuracies and errors. I hope that this book results in a spirited debate about the future of Chicano and Chicana Studies. [18.117.196.184...