This book investigates the introduction of invasive species and their behavior in oceanic islands. How can we define invasive species? What is their history? How did they come to dominate and transform ecosystems? These are relevant questions when trying to understand the behavior of invasive species-primarily in fragile ecosystems such as islands-and to understand the biological, ecological, social and economic impacts of invasions. We chose the Galapagos Islands, a place well-known to be unique in the study of evolution, as a laboratory to analyze the interactions between invasive and endemic species, to understand the makeup of the ecosystems emerging after invasions have occurred, to describe the relationships of invasives with the people that live in these islands, and to try to develop comprehensive analyses on this topic from multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary points of view. For a long time, the discussion has been about how proper management of the species could achieve two main goals: the eradication of the species to recover affected ecosystems and the conservation of endemic species. The discussion has taken on other nuances, including the suggestion that an invasive species, when it is already adapted to an ecosystem, forms an integral part of it, and thus eradication would in itself go against conservation. On the other hand, some invasive species are not only part of the biological compound of the island ecosystems, but they also form part of the social and cultural history of the inhabited islands. Some of these identified by the local inhabitants are species of real or potential economic value.

This book highlights cutting-edge articles published in the journal, Latino Studies, over the last two decades. It features the work of leading and emerging scholars whose innovative theoretical and conceptual contributions to Latinx studies have shaped scholarly debates in our interdisciplinary field and continue to have an impact. This collection embraces a broad range of topics organized in four sections representative of major themes in Latinx studies including: Latinidades/Identidades, Race/Racialization, Migration/Immigration, and Legality/Citizenship/Belonging.  Latino Studies: A 20th Year Anniversary Reader will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars looking for a robust interdisciplinary introduction to Latinx studies, the pivotal issues and debates that have shaped the field over the recent past, and directions for future research.

There is a widely acknowledged evaluation gap in the field of e-participation practice and research, a lack of systematic evaluation with regard to process organization, outcome and impacts. This book addresses the state of the art of e-participation research and the existing evaluation gap by reviewing various evaluation approaches and providing a multidisciplinary concept for evaluating the output, outcome and impact of citizen participation via the Internet as well as via traditional media. It offers new knowledge based on empirical results of its application (tailored to different forms and levels of e-participation) in an international comparative perspective. The book will advance the academic study and practical application of e-participation through fresh insights, largely drawing on theoretical arguments and empirical research results gained in the European collaborative project "e2democracy". It applies the same research instruments to a set of similar citizen participation processes in seven local communities in three countries (Austria, Germany and Spain). The generic evaluation framework has been tailored to a tested toolset, and the presentation and discussion of related evaluation results aims at clarifying to what extent these tools can be applied to other consultation and collaboration processes, making the book of interest to policymakers and scholars alike.

Spanish in Chicago is the first book-length study of Spanish in Chicago, where populations originating in both Mexico and Puerto Rico have lived in contact for generations and Latinos now comprise nearly a third of the population. Identifying Chicago as a rich site for examining language and dialect contact at both community and family levels, Kim Potowski and Lourdes Torres describe the spoken Spanish of Chicago, analyzing patterns of language change and identity constructions and establishing their likely causes. Drawing on interviews with 124 individuals across three generations of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and MexiRican Chicagoans, Potowski and Torres trace the effects of language and dialect contact through close sociolinguistic analysis of lexicon, discourse markers, codeswitching, the subjunctive, and phonology. Their analysis uniquely examines these features across three generations of speakers and two different regional origins within the same corpus. By including MexiRicans as a category, the book not only assesses the dynamics of linguistic convergence, dialect leveling, accommodation, and language loss, but also the concept of intrafamiliar dialect contact pioneered by Potowski. Contextualizing these language changes within the history of Latino communities in Chicago, Spanish in Chicago provides a nuanced picture of a minority language in a major US city and a vital contribution to sociolinguistics and Latino studies.

This book investigates the introduction of invasive species and their behavior in oceanic islands. How can we define invasive species? What is their history? How did they come to dominate and transform ecosystems? These are relevant questions when trying to understand the behavior of invasive species-primarily in fragile ecosystems such as islands-and to understand the biological, ecological, social and economic impacts of invasions. We chose the Galapagos Islands, a place well-known to be unique in the study of evolution, as a laboratory to analyze the interactions between invasive and endemic species, to understand the makeup of the ecosystems emerging after invasions have occurred, to describe the relationships of invasives with the people that live in these islands, and to try to develop comprehensive analyses on this topic from multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary points of view. For a long time, the discussion has been about how proper management of the species could achieve two main goals: the eradication of the species to recover affected ecosystems and the conservation of endemic species. The discussion has taken on other nuances, including the suggestion that an invasive species, when it is already adapted to an ecosystem, forms an integral part of it, and thus eradication would in itself go against conservation. On the other hand, some invasive species are not only part of the biological compound of the island ecosystems, but they also form part of the social and cultural history of the inhabited islands. Some of these identified by the local inhabitants are species of real or potential economic value.

There is a widely acknowledged evaluation gap in the field of e-participation practice and research, a lack of systematic evaluation with regard to process organization, outcome and impacts. This book addresses the state of the art of e-participation research and the existing evaluation gap by reviewing various evaluation approaches and providing a multidisciplinary concept for evaluating the output, outcome and impact of citizen participation via the Internet as well as via traditional media. It offers new knowledge based on empirical results of its application (tailored to different forms and levels of e-participation) in an international comparative perspective. The book will advance the academic study and practical application of e-participation through fresh insights, largely drawing on theoretical arguments and empirical research results gained in the European collaborative project "e2democracy". It applies the same research instruments to a set of similar citizen participation processes in seven local communities in three countries (Austria, Germany and Spain). The generic evaluation framework has been tailored to a tested toolset, and the presentation and discussion of related evaluation results aims at clarifying to what extent these tools can be applied to other consultation and collaboration processes, making the book of interest to policymakers and scholars alike.

Spanish in Chicago is the first book-length study of Spanish in Chicago, where populations originating in both Mexico and Puerto Rico have lived in contact for generations and Latinos now comprise nearly a third of the population. Identifying Chicago as a rich site for examining language and dialect contact at both community and family levels, Kim Potowski and Lourdes Torres describe the spoken Spanish of Chicago, analyzing patterns of language change and identity constructions and establishing their likely causes. Drawing on interviews with 124 individuals across three generations of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and MexiRican Chicagoans, Potowski and Torres trace the effects of language and dialect contact through close sociolinguistic analysis of lexicon, discourse markers, codeswitching, the subjunctive, and phonology. Their analysis uniquely examines these features across three generations of speakers and two different regional origins within the same corpus. By including MexiRicans as a category, the book not only assesses the dynamics of linguistic convergence, dialect leveling, accommodation, and language loss, but also the concept of intrafamiliar dialect contact pioneered by Potowski. Contextualizing these language changes within the history of Latino communities in Chicago, Spanish in Chicago provides a nuanced picture of a minority language in a major US city and a vital contribution to sociolinguistics and Latino studies.

"The essays are provocative and enhance knowledge of Third World women s issues. Highly recommended... " Choice

..". the book challenges assumptions and pushes historic and geographical boundaries that must be altered if women of all colors are to win the struggles thrust upon us by the new world order of the 1990s." New Directions for Women

"This surely is a book for anyone trying to comprehend the ways sexism fuels racism in a post-colonial, post-Cold War world that remains dangerous for most women." Cynthia H. Enloe
..". provocative analyses of the simultaneous oppressions of race, class, gender and sexuality... a powerful collection." Gloria Anzaldua
..". propels third world feminist perspectives from the periphery to the cutting edge of feminist theory in the 1990s." Aihwa Ong

..". a carefully presented wealth of much-needed information." Audre Lorde

..". it is a significant book." The Bloomsbury Review

..". excellent... The nondoctrinaire approach to the Third World and to feminism in general is refreshing and compelling." World Literature Today

..". an excellent collection of essays examining Third World feminism." The Year s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

These essays document the debates, conflicts, and contradictions among those engaged in developing third world feminist theory and politics. Contributors: Evelyne Accad, M. Jacqui Alexander, Carmen Barroso, Cristina Bruschini, Rey Chow, Juanita Diaz-Cotto, Angela Gilliam, Faye V. Harrison, Cheryl Johnson-Odim, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Ann Russo, Barbara Smith, Nayereh Tohidi, Lourdes Torres, Cheryl L. West, & Nellie Wong."

The first anthology to focus exclusively on queer readings of Spanish, Latin American, and US Latina lesbian literature and culture, Tortilleras interrogates issues of gender, national identity, race, ethnicity, and class to show the impossibility of projecting a singular Hispanic or Latina Lesbian. Examining carefully the works of a range of lesbian writers and performance artists, including Carmelita Tropicana and Christina Peri Rossi, among others, the contributors create a picture of the complicated and multi-textured contributions of Latina and Hispanic lesbians to literature and culture. More than simply describing this sphere of creativity, the contributors also recover from history the long, veiled existence of this world, exposing its roots, its impact on lesbian culture, and, making the power of lesbian performance and literature visible. Author note: Lourdes Torres is Associate Professor of Latin American/Latino studies at De Paul University. Inmaculada Perpetusa-Seva is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky.