Over the past decade, much attention has been given to examining the growing political influence of Latinos in the United States in order to define the so-called "Latino vote." The idea of the existence of a coherent Latino vote or political agenda (encompassing the interests of various ethnic groups of Latin-American origin and known as civic Latinidad) is, as this book shows, not only highly debatable, but possibly politically unviable. Beltran's book is the first comprehensive critique of civic Latinidad and the Latino electoral and protest politics that work to erase political diversity and debate in favor of images of political and cultural unity. Situated at the intersection of political theory and Latino studies, Beltran's book analyzes the practices, perceptions, and assumptions that shape how Latinos in the United States articulate their quest for political power and influence. The book looks at three key moments in U.S. Latino political history: the Chicano and Puerto Rican civil rights movements of the late 1960s; the emergence of Latinos as a pan-ethnic voting bloc in the 1980s; and the recent political activism surrounding illegal immigration. To this, Beltran applies political theory to analyze the relationship among participatory democracy, public speech, and racial identification and to link the study of Latino politics to the larger question of how subjects are made capable of collective action. The Trouble with Unity draws upon a diverse range of political, feminist, and cultural theorists to challenge the very existence of a coherent "Latino" political agenda with a pre-existing set of "Latino interests" that can be found and defended.

Mi amiga Mar a Cristina Beltr n solamente ha escrito un pu ado de poemas. Me cont que descubri sus poemas cuando revisaba sus escritos diarios e ntimos, los que escribe en su balc n todos los d as. Confes que los revisaba para destruir sus secretos y descubri sus poemas. Siente que a veces amanecen stos en su mente, completos, y lo que tiene que hacer es pasarlos al papel.La averg enza firmarlos, dice, porque cree que no es ella la que escribe, sino si " ngel amor: ...Sus poemas, C mo son sus poemas?Sus poemas son realistas.Ella escribe lo que ve y siente...Mar a Cristina tiene 72 a os y comenz a escribir, A pintar y a tallas, despu?'s que se retira del Servicio P blico, luego de 33 a os de servicios. Nunca es tarde... La admiro y s que se inspira como yo, en el verso B blico que se encuentra en el libro de Filipenses 4:13"Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece" Beatriz Lebr n