7: Social Movement Activity

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Page ID: 138169

Mario Alberto Viveros Espinoza-Kulick
ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

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Learning Objectives

Explain and assess struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation among Chicanx and Latinx communities.
Identify how historical and contemporary Chicanx and Latinx movements have enacted equity, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, and anti-racism as analyzed.
Critically analyze the uses and application of intersectionality among Chicanx and Latinx communities, including understanding movements that address class, gender, sexuality, national origin, immigration status, sovereignty, and language.
Describe the importance of collective action to anti-racism and decolonial practices.

Introduction

In Chicanx and Latinx Studies, activists, scholars, and political figures have worked to not only educate communities and themselves, but to affect change through policy advocacy and grassroots resistance. Social movements may operate in different ways depending on their context, goals, and supporters. However, they can be analyzed through common theoretical frameworks for change, which identify groups and communities that coordinate sustained action to challenge (or defend) existing structures of power and social organization. Three frameworks will be explored in this chapter: Chicana movidas, Chicanismo, and reform, revolutionary, and reactionary movements. In Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x communities, struggles for justice and equity (“la lucha”) may centrally focus on racial justice and decolonization, intersectional issues like gender justice and sexual liberation, or issues like education and health. For more on these topics, visit Chapter 8: Education and Activism and Chapter 9: Health, respectively. This chapter demonstrates the strategies and tactics used by Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x groups to advocate for political change and mobilize social movements.

This spirit of resistance is shown in Figure 7.1, which depicts a striking worker created for the Yakima Valley Fruit Workers strike in 2020.

An activist poster with a woman in a straw hat and her fist raised, and the caption reads "¡Huelga!" (Strike!) — **Figure 7.1:** "Yakima Valley Fruit Workers Strike! Huelga!" by William Estrada, Justseeds is licensed CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.

7.1: Theoretical Frameworks
This section introduces conceptual frameworks for analyzing Chicanx and Latinx social movements. It discusses Chicana Movidas, which encompasses innovative concepts, tactics, and methodologies at the intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality, emphasizing both traditional social movement organizing and creative strategies rooted in cultural traditions. These frameworks provide tools for analyzing specific examples and campaigns led by social movement activists in subsequent sections.
7.2: Chicanx and Latinx Civil Rights Activism
This section explores the roots of contemporary Chicanx and Latinx advocacy in the United States. It highlights the contributions of these communities to civil rights frameworks and policies, including their fight against racist policies, mobilization for social and economic justice, and establishment of non-discrimination principles.
7.3: Queer and Feminist Chicanx Movements
This section focuses on the presence of hyper-masculinity, sexism, and homophobia within Chicano identity and Chicanismo, as well as the challenges faced in addressing these dynamics. The section explores the struggles faced by Chicana feminists in advocating for gender justice within the Chicano movement and the formation of organizations and campaigns to address women's issues. Additionally, it touches on the experiences of queer Chicanas and their efforts to build solidarity.
7.4: Labor, Farmworker, and Immigrant Movements
Section 7.4 explores the labor, farmworker, and immigrant movements in the United States. The section highlights the solidarity between Chicanx, Latinx, Asian American, Black, and Indigenous communities in advocating for worker justice and immigration justice. The section further discusses the historical context of immigration policies, the recruitment of migrant labor, and the punitive measures against undocumented immigrants.
7.5: Chicanx and Latinx Political Representation
This section discusses formal politics in Chicanx and Latinx communities, focusing on political representation and the challenges faced by Latinx individuals in the United States. The representation of Latinx people in government and politics is highlighted, revealing the underrepresentation of Latinx individuals in elected positions at the local and federal levels. The section also introduces notable Latinx leaders in politics and highlights broader patterns of representation.
7.6: Conclusion