Barrio Dreams Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City [Paperback]

Arlene D?vila brilliantly considers the cultural politics of urban space in this lively exploration of Puerto Rican and Latino experience in New York, the global center of culture and consumption, where Latinos are now the biggest minority group. Analyzing the simultaneous gentrification and Latinization of what is known as El Barrio or Spanish Harlem,Barrio Dreamsmakes a compelling case thatdespite neoliberalism's race-and ethnicity-free tenetsdreams of economic empowerment are never devoid of distinct racial and ethnic considerations.

D?vila scrutinizes dramatic shifts in housing, the growth of charter schools, and the enactment of Empowerment Zone legislation that promises upward mobility and empowerment while shutting out many longtime residents. Foregrounding privatization and consumption, she offers an innovative look at the marketing of Latino space. She emphasizes class among Latinos while touching on black-Latino and Mexican-Puerto Rican relations. Providing a unique multifaceted view of the place of Latinos in the changing urban landscape,Barrio Dreamsis one of the most nuanced and original examinations of the complex social and economic forces shaping our cities today.

Arlene D?vilais Associate Professor of American Studies and Anthropology at New York University. She is the author ofLatinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People(California, 2001) andSponsored Identities: Cultural Politics in Puerto Rico(1997) and coeditor ofMambo Montage: The Latinization of New York(2001).

D?vila's keen insights into the politics of marketing ethnicity, community marginalization and class divisions cuts through neo-liberal postures to glaringly reveal the real issue - who will construct (and control) East Harlem's future? Well versed in the scholarship, D?vila has produced a book that is essential for understanding the increasingly important role and aspirations of Puerto Rican and Latlsa