Seeking Community in a Global City: Guatemalans and Salvadorans in Los Angeles

by Nora Hamilton, Norma Stoltz Chinchilla

Overview

Driven by the pressures of poverty and civil strife at home, large numbers of Central Americans came to the Los Angeles area during the 1980s. Neither purely economic migrants, although they were in search of stable work, nor official refugees, although they carried the scars of war and persecution (since they were denied the aid given to refugees such as Cubans and Vietnamese), these immigrants sought refuge in a city undergoing massive economic and demographic shifts. The result was -- and is -- a complex interaction that will help to reconceptualize the migration experience.

Based on twenty years of work with the Los Angeles Central American community and filled with facts, figures, and personal narratives, Seeking Community in a Global City presents this saga from many perspectives. The authors examine the forces in Central America that sent thousands of people streaming across international borders. They discuss economic, political, and demographic changes in the Los Angeles region and the difficulties the new immigrants faced in negotiating a new, urban environment. They look at family roles, networking, work strategies, and inter-ethnic relations. But they also consider policy issues and alliances, changing expectations, shifting priorities, and the reciprocal effect of the migrants and the city on each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566398671
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	07/28/2001
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

	List of Maps and Tables	vii
	Preface	ix
1	Introduction	1
2	Origins and Patterns of Central American Migration	17
3	Negotiating the Urban Scene	36
4	The Struggle for Survival: Working in Los Angeles	70
5	Seeking Justice, Challenging Policy	119
6	The 1990s: Changing Contexts, Shifting Expectations	152
7	Organizing Locally and Transnationally: Changing Priorities, Strategies, and Alliances	180
8	The Elusive Community: Salvadorans and Guatemalans in Los Angeles	219
Appendix A	Chronology of Events	233
Appendix B	Partial List of Informants	245
	Notes	249
	References	259
	Index	279