From Colonia to Community


Book Description

First published in 1983, this book remains the only full-length study documenting the historical development of the Puerto Rican community in the United States. Expanded to bring it up to the present, Virginia Sánchez Korrol's work traces the growth of the early Puerto Rican settlements--"colonias"--into the unique, vibrant, and well-defined community of today.




Philippi, From Colonia Augusta to Communitas Christiana


Book Description

This book combines careful reading of texts, inscriptions, coins and other archaeological materials to examine how religious practice, material culture and urban landscape changed as Philippi developed from a Roman colony to a major center for Christian worship and pilgrimage.




The Colonias Reader


Book Description

The colonias of the U.S.–Mexico border form a loose network of more than 2,500 settlements, ranging in size from villages to cities, that are home to over a million people. While varying in size, all share common features: wrenching poverty, substandard housing, and public health issues approaching crisis levels. This book brings together scholars, professionals, and activists from a wide range of disciplines to examine the pressing issues of economic development, housing and community development, and public and environmental health in colonias of the four U.S.–Mexico border states. The Colonias Reader is the first book to present such a broad overview of these communities, offering a glimpse into life in the colonias and the circumstances that allow them to continue to exist—and even grow—in persistent poverty. The contributors document the depth of existing problems in each state and describe how government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and community activists have mobilized resources to overcome obstacles to progress. More than reporting problems and documenting programs, the book provides conceptual frameworks that tie poverty to institutional and class-based conflicts, and even challenges the very basis of colonia designations. Most of these contributions move beyond portraying border residents as hapless victims of discrimination and racism, showing instead their devotion to improving their own living conditions through grassroots organizing and community leadership. These contributions show that, despite varying degrees of success, all colonia residents aspire to a livable wage, safe and decent housing, and basic health care. The Colonias Reader showcases many situations in which these people have organized to fulfill these ambitions and provides new insight into life along the border.




Colonias Housing and Community Development Assistance


Book Description




Growing Up in La Colonia: Boomer memories from Oxnard’s barrio


Book Description

La Colonia is half a square mile of land separated from the rest of Oxnard by the railroad tracks and home to the people who keep an agricultural empire running. In decades past, milpas of corn and squash grew in tiny front yards, kids played in the alleys and neighbors ran tortillerias out of their homes. Back then, it was the place to get the best raspadas on Earth. It was a home to Cesar Chavez and a campaign stop for presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. As one Colonia native put it, "We may not have had what the other kids had, but we were just as rich." Through the voices of the people, the authors share the challenges and triumphs of growing up in this treasured place.




Community Practice


Book Description

For almost two decades, Community Practice has been a definitive text for social workers, community practitioners, and students eager to help individuals contribute to and use community resources or work to change oppressive community structures. In this third edition, a wealth of new charts and cases spotlight the linkages between theoretical orientations and practical skills, with an enhanced emphasis on the inherently political nature of social work and community practice. Boxes, examples, and exercises illustrate the range of skills and strategies available to savvy community practitioners in the 21st century, including networking, marketing and staging, political advocacy, and leveraging information and communication technologies. Other features include: - New material on community practice ethics, critical practice skills, community assessment and assets inventory and mapping, social problem analysis, and applying community ractice skills to casework practice - Consideration of post-9/11 community challenges - Discussion on the changing ethnic composition of America and what this means for practitioners - An exploration of a vastly changed political landscape following the election of President Obama, the Great Recession, the rise of the Tea Party, and the increasing political and corporate use of pseudo-grassroots endeavors - A completely revamped instructor's manual available online at www.oup.com/us/communitypractice This fully revised classic text provides a comprehensive and integrated overview of the community theory and skills fundamental to all areas of social work practice. Broad in scope and intensive in analysis, it is suitable for undergraduate as well as graduate study. Community Practice offers students and practitioners the tools necessary to promote the welfare of individuals and communities by tapping into the ecological foundations of community and social work practice.




Race, Gender, and Work


Book Description

An outgrowth of Boston's Economic Literacy Project of Women for Economic Justice, this new edition traces the economic and social histories of working women in America. The history documents the paid and unpaid work done by American Indian, Chicana, European American, African American, and Puerto Rican women from each group's cultural beginnings (pre-colonialization) to the most contemporary analysis of present day wage statistics. The appendices supply US census sources, occupational categories, and labor force participation rates from 1900 to 1980. Includes statistical tables. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.




Colonias in Arizona and New Mexico


Book Description

There are approximately half a million people living in 227 officially designated colonias in southern Arizona and New Mexico. These border communities are characterized by poor-quality housing, a lack of infrastructure (paved roads, water and sewer systems, and electricity), high levels of poverty and unemployment, and a disproportionate concentration of Hispanics. These colonias comprise one of the country’s largest pockets of poverty. Even so, little is known about these towns or the people who live in them. This book provides the first comprehensive treatment of Arizona and New Mexico colonias, with the aim of increasing their visibility and promoting community development. Beginning with an examination of the origins of border region settlement and the emergence of colonias in southern Arizona and New Mexico in the late 1800s, the book then turns to an assessment of current social, economic, and housing conditions. The authors also examine how Mexico’s recent economic crises and U.S. immigration and border security policies have shaped the quality of life in colonias, and they evaluate recent community development initiatives. By examining the challenges and successes of these recent efforts, the authors are able to provide a generalized plan for community development. Balancing analyses of these communities with a review of the positive steps taken to improve the quality of life of their inhabitants, Colonias in Arizona and New Mexico is an indispensable tool for anyone interested in public policy or immigration issues.




Conservation, Tourism, and Identity of Contemporary Community Art


Book Description

This unique volume aims to promote new models of sustainable management in the field of contemporary mural art. Cultural heritage has become an essential tool for society, stressing the necessity to properly conserve cultural resources in order to maintain a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable development. In this book, the mural "Allegory to Work" by the artist Felipe Seade, located in Uruguay, is used as a case study. The work of Felipe Seade, a prominent political mural artist of the twentieth century, reflects the influence of Mexican heritage and the socio-political themes of that time, which were commonly used by the Social Realism art movement. The authors look at the mural—and its restoration—through the lens of tourism, globalization, and new interest in cultural heritage. The book demonstrates that the restoration should be aware that the perspective of the protagonists must be incorporated in the intervention process. This first-of-its-kind volume brings together historical, ethnographic, tourism, and scientific research that leads to a sustainable project, from the point of view of identity, economy, politics, and society. This volume, with over 50 color illustrations and many black and white photos, will be valuable for college and research libraries, undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and professors in the field of cultural heritage and art as well as those involved in community-based research.




Diálogos: Placemaking in Latino Communities


Book Description

Latinos are one of the largest and fastest growing social groups in the United States, and their increased presence is profoundly shaping the character of urban, suburban, and rural places. This is a response to these developments and is the first book written for readers seeking to learn about, engage and plan with Latino communities. It considers how placemaking in marginalized communities sheds light on, and can inform, community-building practices of professionals and place dwellers alike. Diálogos: Placemaking in Latino Communities will help readers better understand the conflicts and challenges inherent in placemaking, and to make effective and sustainable choices for practice in an increasingly multi-ethnic world. The essays explore three aspects of place: the appropriation and territorialization of the built environment, the claiming of rights through collective action, and a sense of belonging through civic participation. The authors illustrate their ideas through case studies and explain the implications of their work for placemaking practice. A consistent theme about planning and design practice in Latino communities emerges throughout the book: placemaking happens with or without professional planners and designers. All of the essays in Diálogos demonstrate the need to not only imagine, build, and make places with local communities, but also to re-imagine how we practice democracy inclusive of cross-cultural exchange, understanding, and respect. This will require educators, students, and working professionals to incorporate the knowledge and skills of cultural competency into their everyday practices.