The Chicano experience : an alternative perspective /

Mirande seeks to counteract conscious and unconscious biases in the writings of Anglo authors about Chicanos. Although some of Mirande's ideas are neither so new nor distinctively Chicano as the author believes, the book does nonetheless offer understanding of social, cultural, and economic forces shaping the situation of Chicanos-a context absent from much of what has been written about them. Especially useful are elaborations and interpretations of internal colonialism theory. This approach, though well-known in sociology, is more helpful in understanding reasons for status differences among racial/ethnic groups than is recognized in most textbooks. Among specific topics covered are the labor history of Chicanos, the undocumented immigration issue, the origins of the ``bandito'' stereotype, Chicano education, family structure, religion, and culture. The book presents a good overview, exposing students to a perspective without which a full understanding of those topics is impossible. Mirande's call for a ``Chicano sociology'' as an alternative to (and largely in opposition to) ``sociology of Chicanos'' is surely controversial, though he argues correctly that little if any social science is truly ``value free.'' In fact, because of what the book has to say about the role of values in the social sciences and the cultural backgrounds of social scientists, it is of considerable relevance to the sociology of science. Upper-division undergraduates and beyond.-J.E. Farley, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville