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BETWEEN BORDERS: ESSAYS ON MEXICANA/CHICANA HISTORY.
Edited by Adelaida R. Del Castillo. 1997 560 pgs. ISBN: 0915745186 (pbk) . Includes
biblio. $54.00 Price for class use $38.95
The most comprehensive and complete original history of U.S. Latinas of Mexican descent
written by an outstanding team of Mexican and U.S. scholars and based on copious
documentary sources from both countries. Between Borders has been hailed by the scholarly
review media as "the most important piece of original research on Mexicana/ Chicana
ever published."
This collection of essays is a smashing success in terms of organization, presentation,
significance of content, and theoretical approach. The essays reflect the maturation of
the field in the 1980's. In keeping with the bilingual/bicultural tenor of Chicano
Studies, contributions written in Spanish are presented in their original form, prefaced
with abstracts in English.
The book underscores the benefits of international exchanges in Chicano Studies and in the
history of Mexican women on both sides of the border. Addressed here are the historical
significance of gender, class, culture, and ethnicity. Collected here are twenty-five
essays by an international group of scholars who discuss methods, content and critical
theoretical concerns of Chicana historiography to date.
Together these writings comprise an unprecedented collection of Mexican women in the
United States. Part I examines theoretical approaches useful to Chicana history and argues
important distinctions between Chicana and women's in general. Part II follows with a
discussion on method and sources for Chicana historiography and draws on colonial census
data as well as archival material, oral history and literature as historical sources. Part
III turns to the discussion of undocumented female labor in the United States and
clandestine garment workers. Part IV examines the impact of gender ideology, patriarchal
structures and feminist activism. This anthology includes a bibliography with over 500
interdisciplinary citations important to Chicana/Mexicana studies. Strongly recommended
for courses in Ethnic studies and women's history.
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