A Note from the Editor

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Neoliberalism and the devastating repercussions of its principles and policies have received ample attention in scholarly publications. Studies detail how free trade, deregulation, privatization, fiscal austerity and reductions in government spending on social programs wreak havoc on the poor and working class, while policies in support of the private sector enrich the already wealthy. Less known are the specific effects of neoliberalism on Latinos. This special issue, edited by Rubén O. Martinez and Raymond Rocco, addresses this gap in the field. The issue’s articles offer a stimulating and much-needed examination of the negative consequences of neoliberalism on Latinos from diverse perspectives. Following the editors’ introduction, Rubén Martinez offers a concise overview of American neoliberalism and its destructive impact on Latinos across multiple societal institutions. Martin Guevara Urbina and Sofía Espinoza Álvarez follow with a hard-hitting analysis of the profit-generating American criminal justice system, which, they argue, is built on the systemic criminalization of Latinos and the poor. Andrea Silva reveals how neoliberal principles of privatization, efficiency and personal responsibility enrich private interests and diminish human rights for those caught up in the immigration system. Alfonso Gonzalez, likewise, demonstrates how the current homeland security state intentionally produces a vulnerable class of transnational workers that provide cheap labor for US corporations. In the final essay, Raymond Rocco unpacks the mechanisms of “technologies of racialization” that under the neoliberal regime create a class of Latinos who reside in a perpetual space of disposability. This special issue will undoubtedly engender additional research on the impact of neoliberalism’s ideology and practices on Latino communities. Ultimately, such inquiry will begin to provide the necessary tools to resist, destabilize and dismantle neoliberalism’s dehumanizing forces. Lourdes Torres DePaul University, Chicago, IL E-mail: [email protected]

© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/

Vol. 14, 1, 1

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