EVENT DETAILS

"Latinas/os in the Crosshairs: Media and the Politics of Nativism" with Hector Amaya

In the new century we have seen an increase in the presence of Latinos
in public culture, but we have also seen the rise of anti-Latino
nativism. At the beginning of 2003, the US census declared that Latinos
had for the first time surpassed African Americans in number, officially
becoming the largest ethno-racial minority in the nation. Many
applauded. But by 2005, groups of zealous citizens (the notorious
Minuteman) organized around the US-Mexico border as a militia, to, in
their words, “stop the invasion of illegals.” Such nativist politics
moved, within a few years, from the political periphery to mainstream.
By decades end, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona had pushed for and passed
Arizona SB 1070, a set of policies and legal decisions that were meant
to reduce dramatically the quality of life of undocumented immigrants
and anyone who looks like them. Today, nativist policies like SB 1070
are everywhere, in many states, counties, and cities. This
radicalization of politics, I argue, is not the result of “bad civics,”
or, if you prefer, citizens behaving badly. It is, rather, the logic and
predictable outcome of a political culture constituted around the
principles of nativist excess. This political culture, which is partly
constituted through media, enables the accumulation of political capital
by ethnic majorities and disables ethnic minorities such as Latinos from
using and accumulating political capital. To support this argument, this
talk discusses the 2006 pro-immigration reform rallies and the media
practices that gave life to these marches. This case clearly shows how
the process of political capital accumulation affects minoritarian and
majoritarian media systems.

Hector Amaya is Associate Professor of Media Studies at University of
Virginia. He writes on globalization, Latino media studies, the cultural
production of political identities, and Latin American film/media. His
first book /Screening Cuba: Film Criticism as Political Performance
During the Cold War/ (2010: University of Illinois Press) investigates
links between transnational film flows, criticism, and citizenship
between Cuba and the United States. His second book, /Citizenship
Excess: Latinos/as, Media, and the Nation/ (2013: New York University
Press) explores the relationship of media to citizenship and the impact
this relationship has on Latinos/as and law. Dr. Amaya’s journal
articles have appeared in places like /Media, Culture and Society/,
/Television & New Media/, /Studies in Hispanic Cinemas/, /New Cinemas/,
/Critical Discourse Studies/, /Latino Studies/, and /Text and
Performance Quarterly/.

This event is free and open to the public.

CLS will sponsor a reception following the lecture for Professor Amaya
from 4:30-5:30 in the Jeff Garcilazo conference room (SST 318) open to
all CLS faculty, graduate students, and majors.