EXPRESSIONS OF MEXICANNESS AND THE PROMISE OF AMERICAN LIBERALISM by EINAR A. ELSNER, B.A., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Chairperson of the Committee Accepted Dean of the Graduate School August, 2002 Copyright 2002, Einar A. Eisner ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I completed my graduate coursework at Texas Tech University and wrote this dissertation while teaching at Sul Ross State University. Many good men and women in both institutions helped and inspired me along the way. At Sul Ross, I had the pleasure and good fortune of working in an environment of conviviality and intellectual curiosity. Jimmy Case, the department chair, was there for me every time I needed him and inspired me to teach with passion. CUff Hirsch appeared on the shores of my consciousness and provided me with guidance at crucial turns. Ed Marcin welcomed me into his Ufe with a warm abrazo and Mark Saka never ceased to remind me of the need to keep writing. I owe much intellectual development to Daniel Busey, the most inquisitive of my students, and my enthusiasm for teaching to the hundreds of students who took my courses. I will never forget the hours we spent together in the classroom! For reasons too numerous to list here, I am also gratefiil to other people at Sul Ross and the community of Alpine. They are Jay Downing, Nelda Gallego, Paul Wright, Dave Cockrum, Sharon Hileman, Pete Gallego, Abe Baeza, Luanne Hirsch, Carol Greer, Hugh Garrett, Rhonda Austin, John Klingeman, Jon Ward, Jeff Haynes, Eleazar Cano, many of my fellow Kiwanians, and, last but not least, R.C. and Richard at the Raifroad Blues. At Texas Tech I found exactly what I needed—an eclectic group of scholars excited about ideas. Clarke Cochran, my dissertation chair, guided me through all sorts of fascinating topics with a keen intellect and a refreshing sense of optimism. John Barkdull expanded my horizons by taking me into the world of environmental poUcy with his unusual ability to focus on the things that matter. John Tuman renewed my interest in Latin American poUtical economy and consistently offered his assistance, while Charles Fox took me on a wild and most inspiring ride in the "borderland" reahn of modem and postmodern political thought. A special thanks goes to Jyl Josephson, who introduced me to feminist poUtical thought and American political theory. I also wish to thank Aie-Ree Lee, my first advisor, Craig Emmert, Nelson Demetrius, Donna Barnes, and Dora Rodriguez. My heart goes to those few who stood by me in times of inspired writing and in those terrible days of mental blockage. Their conversation kept me going. My father and mother's fortitude, optimism and mnate sense of fairness permeate my work and my life. I wish my dad were here to share in the joy. Kimberlee, my former wife and good friend, encouraged me every step of the way, even after our separation. My son Daniel was a good sport and a patient companion during those long weekend mornings while I wrote and he drew or played in the backyard. To my sweetheart, Mary Katherine, who made me laugh when 1 needed it the most, I owe the renewed feeling of vitality that allowed me to sprint to the finish line. Finally, I wish to convey my gratitude to liberal pragmatists. They remind us that the freedom we enjoy needs to be maintained conversationally. It goes without saying that any omissions or mistakes in the text of this dissertation are solely my own. HI TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABSTRACT vu PREFACE ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 A Few Clarifications 2 1.2 Questions and Processes 7 II. MEXICANNESS AND THE FIVE PROCESSES 10 2.1 Engaging Mexicanness 10 2.2 Liberalism and the Fact of Plurality 13 2.3 Self-Definition and Autonomy 17 2.4 Three Generations 25 2.5 Consent 29 2.6 Liberal Citizenship 31 2.7 Gloria Anzaldiia: Engaging the Goddesses 37 2.8 Creative Identity-Formation 42 2.9 The Borderlands 44 2.10 Americanness 45 IV III. CONVERSATION: A METHOD AND A PRACTICE FOR MULTICULTURAL POLITIES 50 3.1 Capacities for Conversation 50 3.2 Conversation and Truth 59 3.3 The / and the Other: In Defense of Liberals 66 3.4 Conversation and the Cultural Left 75 3.5 Conversation and Toleration 77 3.6 Expanding the Ethical Space 79 3.7 Conversation and CoUigation 82 IV. SELF-DEFINITION 85 4.1 Purposes and Outcomes 85 4.2 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848 87 4.3 The First Major Migration North 93 4.4 The 1940s: El Pachuco 95 4.5 The View From the Outside Looking In 99 4.6 The View from Within: Zoot Suit—\\iQ Pachuco as "human bridge" and the Role of Liberal Law 105 4.6.1 Due Process: Gateway to the Borderlands 109 4.6.2 Solitary Confinement 110 4.6.3 Mexicanness and Liberalism 118 4.7 The View of Anglo-American Philosophers 119 V. CHICANISMO: AN INTEPRETATION 126 5.1 From Pachuco to Chicano 126 5.2 The 1960s: Chicanos Stake their Claim 131 5.3 El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan 134 5.4 The 1990s and Beyond: Chicanos of the Mexicanness Generation 141 5.4.1 Aztlan: An Empty Signifier 141 VI. CESAR CHAVEZ: LA CAUSA. CIVIL RIGHTS, LABOR RIGHTS, AND THE "LOVE ETHIC" 149 6.1 The Man and the Movement 149 6.2 Chavez: A Brief Biographical Sketch 152 6.3 The Four Moral Questions 154 6.4 Congruence between Action and BeUef 156 6.5 Trade Unionism: PoUtical Power for Farm Workers 158 6.6 Humanistic Multiculturalism 160 6.7 Spiritual Humanism and the "Love Ethic" 166 6.8 Conclusion 169 VII. CONCLUSION 172 BIBLIOGRAPHY 179 VI ABSTRACT The process of cuhural self-definition among individuals of "misrecognized" ethno- cuhural minorities inhabiting the American liberal polity triggers a number of other processes that may be conducive to liberal (and liberating) outcomes. These processes are: (1) the process by which the American liberal polity explains itself, revises its "first principles," and adapts to changing conditions, (2) the process by which individuals of any cultural group develop "capacities for agency" and loyalty to liberal citizenship, (3) the process of creative identity-formation (empowering or disempowering identities), and (4) the process by which America defines and re-defines itself as circumstances change. The outcome of these processes is not necessarily emancipatory and self-definition is not necessarily successfiil in generating empowering identities among individuals of misrecognized groups, but the American liberal democracy is equipped to engage self- definition and the other processes it triggers in ways that enhance the prospects of achieving Uberating outcomes. First, the American polity has an institutional framework for coexistence between pluralities that, while enabling cultural self-definition, also instructs individvials in the practices of liberal citizenship. Second, American liberal society has the poUtical, philosophical, and cultural traditions apt for "conversation" between pluralities, namely, the traditions of Uberalism and pragmatism. The practice of conversation, that is, the practice of "rendering differences conversable," is an important, if not necessary, activity in multicultural poUties like the United States, because it hones critical skiUs and promotes Uberal and emancipatory outcomes among its citizens. Conversation helps expand the scope and reach of our moral commitments, helps us construct more compelling autobiographies and arguments about our ends and purposes, and enables us to devise better ways, that is, freer and less cruel ways, of Uving our social lives together. It also helps us recognize our equal capacities for poUtical reasonableness, moral deUberation, and creative identity-formation, hence aUowing the /and the Other to connect and communicate without erasing difference. One of the prevailing views in our multicultural age is that ethno-cultural self- definition somehow imdermines liberal principles and practices. This dissertation argues Vll that cultural self-definition and American liberalism can be mutually correspondent and complementary. This dissertation shows that "expressions of Mexicanness," that is, the Mexican American community's pursuit of self-definition since 1848, triggered the processes listed above. It also shows that the American liberal poUty lived up to its emancipatory promise. The case is made, however, for a stronger commitment to conversation among individuals and the poUtical classes of the various cultural pluralities inhabiting the polity. Vlll PREFACE "To be part of a society is, in the relevant sense, to be taken as a possible conversational partner by those who shape the society's self-image," says Richard Rorty, one of America's most prolific philosophers. Ever since they were brought into the world in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexican Americans have argued for their right to participate in the shaping of America's self-image; that is, to participate in the conversation about who we are as a people and what we stand for as a nation. Their story, they remind us, is as American as the story of the Pilgrims, and their intellectual and aesthetic contributions as insightfial and vivid as those of any other Americans. The mythic land of Aztldn, Chicanos/as teU us, is essentially no different from the Promised Land or the House on the HUl, and the mestizo no less or more than the black, red, yellow, or white. Given a place at the table on equal terms, they argue, anyone can shape the society's self-image and, like other conversational partners, Uve a self-chosen Ufe in America. The conversation is well under way today, but as with most worthy causes, it did not start without a fight.