Mexican Americans and the Environment: Tierra y Vida
by Devon G. Peña
University of Arizona Press, 2005 eISBN: 978-0-8165-5082-1 | Paper: 978-0-8165-2211-8 Library of Congress Classification E184.M5P395 2005 Dewey Decimal Classification 304.20896872073
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Mexican Americans have traditionally had a strong land ethic, believing that humans must respect la tierra because it is the source of la vida. As modern market forces exploit the earth, communities struggle to control their own ecological futures, and several studies have recorded that Mexican Americans are more impacted by environmental injustices than are other national-origin groups. In our countryside, agricultural workers are poisoned by pesticides, while farmers have lost ancestral lands to expropriation. And in our polluted inner cities, toxic wastes sicken children in their very playgrounds and homes. This book addresses the struggle for environmental justice, grassroots democracy, and a sustainable society from a variety of Mexican American perspectives. It draws on the ideas and experiences of people from all walks of life—activists, farmworkers, union organizers, land managers, educators, and many others—who provide a clear overview of the most critical ecological issues facing Mexican-origin people today. The text is organized to first provide a general introduction to ecology, from both scientific and political perspectives. It then presents an environmental history for Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border, showing that the ecologically sustainable Norteño land use practices were eroded by the conquest of El Norte by the United States. It finally offers a critique of the principal schools of American environmentalism and introduces the organizations and struggles of Mexican Americans in contemporary ecological politics. Devon Peña contrasts tenets of radical environmentalism with the ecological beliefs and grassroots struggles of Mexican-origin people, then shows how contemporary environmental justice struggles in Mexican American communities have challenged dominant concepts of environmentalism. Mexican Americans and the Environment is a didactically sound text that introduces students to the conceptual vocabularies of ecology, culture, history, and politics as it tells how competing ideas about nature have helped shape land use and environmental policies. By demonstrating that any consideration of environmental ethics is incomplete without taking into account the experiences of Mexican Americans, it clearly shows students that ecology is more than nature study but embraces social issues of critical importance to their own lives.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Devon Peña is a sociologist at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and past director of La Sierra Foundation of San Luis. He has written several books on Chicano issues, including The Terror of the Machine: Technology, Work, Gender, and Ecology on the U.S.-Mexico Border.
REVIEWS
“This book deserves attention, for it will introduce new topics to many, will challenge old interpretations for others, and will offer much to ponder for all.”—Journal of the West
— -
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[FMT]Contents[\]
List of Illustrations 000
List of Tables 000
List of Acronyms 000
Acknowledgments 000
Introduction: "La Tierra Es Vida" 000
Overview of Environmental Issues and the Mexican-Origin People 000
Overview of the Book 000
Notes 000
1. Principles of Scientific Ecology 000
Succession to Climax or Accidental Associations? 000
Nature as Ecosystem 000
The Web of Life 000
The Land Ethic 000
Stability and Change in Ecosystems 000
Critiques of Cybernetic Ecology 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
2. Ecologies of Chaos 000
The Ecology of Disturbance 000
Anthropogenesis: Placing People in the Environment 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
3. Environmental History of Mega-Mexico, El Sur 000
Changing Biological and Cultural Diversity of Mega-Mexico 000
Pre-contact Civilizations 000
The Spanish Colonial Ecological Revolution 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
4. Environmental History of Mega-Mexico, El Norte 000
Ecological Worldviews 000
Ecological Revolutions in El Norte 000
Biological Diversity in El Norte 000
Ancestral Civilizations and Environmental Change 000
First Nations and the Mexican-Origin People 000
The Norteña/o Ecological Revolution, 1598--1848 000
The Industrial-Capitalist Ecological Revolution, 1848--1950 000
A Century of Precursors 000
Concluding Thoughts 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
5. A Chicana/o Critique of Mainstream American Environmentalism 000
Natural Resource Conservation 000
Wilderness Preservation 000
Professional Environmentalism: The Group of Ten 000
Rachel Carson and the Roots of Radical Environmentalism 000
Concluding Thoughts 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
6. A Chicana/o Critique of Radical American Environmentalism 000
Deep Ecology 000
Social Ecology 000
Ecofeminism 000
Ecosocialism 000
Bioregionalism 000
The Antitoxics Movement 000
The Environmental Justice Movement ([ac]EJM[\]) 000
Concluding Thoughts 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
7. Ecological Politics and the Mexican-Origin People, 1980--2002 000
Nos Matan en Cosechas Tóxicas: Farmworkers and the Environment 000
¿Donde Est n? Farmworker Health Care and Housing 000
Nos Matan en Malditas F bricas: Factory Workers and the Environment
000
Se Robaron Nuestra Tierra Madre: Land Grants and the Environment 000
Sin Agua No Hay Vida: Acequia Farmers and the Environment 000
Hacen Ruinas de Nuestras Vecindades: Political Ecology of the Barrio
000
Somos Humanos y No Lo Olvidan: Rural Colonias and the Environment 000
Concluding Thoughts: Is the Earth Local? 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
Conclusion: Mexican-Origin People and the Future of Environmentalism 000
Future Trends and Emerging Issues 000
Final Words 000
Notes 000
Glossary 000
Source Credits 000
Index 000
[FMT]Illustrations[\]
[FM1]Figures[\]
1. Lindeman's food web 000
2. Functional diagram of an ecosystem 000
3. Diagram of the cybernetic ecosystem 000
4. Ideal biosphere reserve design 000
5. Biological core reserve design principles 000
6. Design of corridors and core reserves 000
7. Sketch of a Maya kitchen garden 000
8. Ecological life zones in the Rio Arriba 000
9. Riparian long-lot 000
10. Acequia riparian corridor 000
11. Center-pivot irrigation sprinklers in a monoculture landscape 000
12. Anti-logging protestors, Taylor Ranch, Colorado 000
[FM1]Maps[\]
1. Major settlement watersheds of El Norte 000
2. Distribution of U.S. Latina/o farms 000
[FMT]Tables[\]
1. Ecological processes in contrasting agroecosystems 000
2. Terrestrial and aquatic ecological zones of Mexico 000
3. Selected indicators of Mexico's biodiversity 000
4. Plant knowledge among selected indigenous groups of Mexico 000
5. Threatened and endangered animal species in Mexico 000
6. Threatened plant species of Mexico 000
7. Deforestation rates in Mexico 000
8. Domesticated plants and animals introduced by the Spanish 000
9. Biodiversity of El Norte 000
10. Economic and ecological services of the acequia landscape mosaic 000
11. Domesticated animals and cultivated plants in acequia farms 000
12. Growth of the cattle industry in selected states of El Norte 000
13. Logging levels in Arizona and New Mexico national forests 000
14. Population growth in El Norte (1850-1950) 000
15. Important federal environmental protection laws 000
16. Comparison of western industrial-scientific and deep ecology paradigms
000
17. Organizational values of localism in social ecology 000
18. Comparison of the bioregional and industrial-scientific paradigms 000
19. Principal forms of environmental racism 000
20. Social groups and terrains of struggle in Chicana/o [ac]EJM[\] 000
21. Largest Latina/o populations by state, county, and city 000
Mexican Americans and the Environment: Tierra y Vida
by Devon G. Peña
University of Arizona Press, 2005 eISBN: 978-0-8165-5082-1 Paper: 978-0-8165-2211-8
Mexican Americans have traditionally had a strong land ethic, believing that humans must respect la tierra because it is the source of la vida. As modern market forces exploit the earth, communities struggle to control their own ecological futures, and several studies have recorded that Mexican Americans are more impacted by environmental injustices than are other national-origin groups. In our countryside, agricultural workers are poisoned by pesticides, while farmers have lost ancestral lands to expropriation. And in our polluted inner cities, toxic wastes sicken children in their very playgrounds and homes. This book addresses the struggle for environmental justice, grassroots democracy, and a sustainable society from a variety of Mexican American perspectives. It draws on the ideas and experiences of people from all walks of life—activists, farmworkers, union organizers, land managers, educators, and many others—who provide a clear overview of the most critical ecological issues facing Mexican-origin people today. The text is organized to first provide a general introduction to ecology, from both scientific and political perspectives. It then presents an environmental history for Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border, showing that the ecologically sustainable Norteño land use practices were eroded by the conquest of El Norte by the United States. It finally offers a critique of the principal schools of American environmentalism and introduces the organizations and struggles of Mexican Americans in contemporary ecological politics. Devon Peña contrasts tenets of radical environmentalism with the ecological beliefs and grassroots struggles of Mexican-origin people, then shows how contemporary environmental justice struggles in Mexican American communities have challenged dominant concepts of environmentalism. Mexican Americans and the Environment is a didactically sound text that introduces students to the conceptual vocabularies of ecology, culture, history, and politics as it tells how competing ideas about nature have helped shape land use and environmental policies. By demonstrating that any consideration of environmental ethics is incomplete without taking into account the experiences of Mexican Americans, it clearly shows students that ecology is more than nature study but embraces social issues of critical importance to their own lives.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Devon Peña is a sociologist at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and past director of La Sierra Foundation of San Luis. He has written several books on Chicano issues, including The Terror of the Machine: Technology, Work, Gender, and Ecology on the U.S.-Mexico Border.
REVIEWS
“This book deserves attention, for it will introduce new topics to many, will challenge old interpretations for others, and will offer much to ponder for all.”—Journal of the West
— -
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[FMT]Contents[\]
List of Illustrations 000
List of Tables 000
List of Acronyms 000
Acknowledgments 000
Introduction: "La Tierra Es Vida" 000
Overview of Environmental Issues and the Mexican-Origin People 000
Overview of the Book 000
Notes 000
1. Principles of Scientific Ecology 000
Succession to Climax or Accidental Associations? 000
Nature as Ecosystem 000
The Web of Life 000
The Land Ethic 000
Stability and Change in Ecosystems 000
Critiques of Cybernetic Ecology 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
2. Ecologies of Chaos 000
The Ecology of Disturbance 000
Anthropogenesis: Placing People in the Environment 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
3. Environmental History of Mega-Mexico, El Sur 000
Changing Biological and Cultural Diversity of Mega-Mexico 000
Pre-contact Civilizations 000
The Spanish Colonial Ecological Revolution 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
4. Environmental History of Mega-Mexico, El Norte 000
Ecological Worldviews 000
Ecological Revolutions in El Norte 000
Biological Diversity in El Norte 000
Ancestral Civilizations and Environmental Change 000
First Nations and the Mexican-Origin People 000
The Norteña/o Ecological Revolution, 1598--1848 000
The Industrial-Capitalist Ecological Revolution, 1848--1950 000
A Century of Precursors 000
Concluding Thoughts 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
5. A Chicana/o Critique of Mainstream American Environmentalism 000
Natural Resource Conservation 000
Wilderness Preservation 000
Professional Environmentalism: The Group of Ten 000
Rachel Carson and the Roots of Radical Environmentalism 000
Concluding Thoughts 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
6. A Chicana/o Critique of Radical American Environmentalism 000
Deep Ecology 000
Social Ecology 000
Ecofeminism 000
Ecosocialism 000
Bioregionalism 000
The Antitoxics Movement 000
The Environmental Justice Movement ([ac]EJM[\]) 000
Concluding Thoughts 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
7. Ecological Politics and the Mexican-Origin People, 1980--2002 000
Nos Matan en Cosechas Tóxicas: Farmworkers and the Environment 000
¿Donde Est n? Farmworker Health Care and Housing 000
Nos Matan en Malditas F bricas: Factory Workers and the Environment
000
Se Robaron Nuestra Tierra Madre: Land Grants and the Environment 000
Sin Agua No Hay Vida: Acequia Farmers and the Environment 000
Hacen Ruinas de Nuestras Vecindades: Political Ecology of the Barrio
000
Somos Humanos y No Lo Olvidan: Rural Colonias and the Environment 000
Concluding Thoughts: Is the Earth Local? 000
Discussion Questions 000
Suggested Readings 000
Notes 000
Conclusion: Mexican-Origin People and the Future of Environmentalism 000
Future Trends and Emerging Issues 000
Final Words 000
Notes 000
Glossary 000
Source Credits 000
Index 000
[FMT]Illustrations[\]
[FM1]Figures[\]
1. Lindeman's food web 000
2. Functional diagram of an ecosystem 000
3. Diagram of the cybernetic ecosystem 000
4. Ideal biosphere reserve design 000
5. Biological core reserve design principles 000
6. Design of corridors and core reserves 000
7. Sketch of a Maya kitchen garden 000
8. Ecological life zones in the Rio Arriba 000
9. Riparian long-lot 000
10. Acequia riparian corridor 000
11. Center-pivot irrigation sprinklers in a monoculture landscape 000
12. Anti-logging protestors, Taylor Ranch, Colorado 000
[FM1]Maps[\]
1. Major settlement watersheds of El Norte 000
2. Distribution of U.S. Latina/o farms 000
[FMT]Tables[\]
1. Ecological processes in contrasting agroecosystems 000
2. Terrestrial and aquatic ecological zones of Mexico 000
3. Selected indicators of Mexico's biodiversity 000
4. Plant knowledge among selected indigenous groups of Mexico 000
5. Threatened and endangered animal species in Mexico 000
6. Threatened plant species of Mexico 000
7. Deforestation rates in Mexico 000
8. Domesticated plants and animals introduced by the Spanish 000
9. Biodiversity of El Norte 000
10. Economic and ecological services of the acequia landscape mosaic 000
11. Domesticated animals and cultivated plants in acequia farms 000
12. Growth of the cattle industry in selected states of El Norte 000
13. Logging levels in Arizona and New Mexico national forests 000
14. Population growth in El Norte (1850-1950) 000
15. Important federal environmental protection laws 000
16. Comparison of western industrial-scientific and deep ecology paradigms
000
17. Organizational values of localism in social ecology 000
18. Comparison of the bioregional and industrial-scientific paradigms 000
19. Principal forms of environmental racism 000
20. Social groups and terrains of struggle in Chicana/o [ac]EJM[\] 000
21. Largest Latina/o populations by state, county, and city 000
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC