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Publication Date: January 1, 2011 | filetype: pdf

 
In the first book-length scholarly study of the San Fernando ValleyΓÇöhome to one-third of the population of Los AngelesΓÇöLaura R. Barraclough combines ambitious historical sweep with an on-theground investigation of contemporary life in this iconic western suburb. She is particularly intrigued by the ValleyΓÇÖs many rural elements, such as dirt roads, tack-and-feed stores, horse-keeping districts, citrus groves, and movie ranches. Far from natural or undeveloped spaces, these rural characteristics are, she shows, the result of deliberate urbanplanning decisions that have shaped the Valley over the course of more than a hundred years.
 
The ValleyΓÇÖs entwined history of urban development and rural preservation has real ramifications today for patterns of racial and class inequality and especially for the evolving meaning of whiteness. Immersing herself in meetings of homeownersΓÇÖ associations, equestrian organizations, and redistricting committees, Barraclough uncovers the racial biases embedded in rhetoric about ΓÇ£open spaceΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£western heritage.ΓÇ¥ The ValleyΓÇÖs urban cowboys enjoy exclusive, semirural landscapes alongside the opportunities afforded by one of the worldΓÇÖs largest cities. Despite this enviable position, they have at their disposal powerful articulations of both white victimization and, with little contradiction, color-blind politics.

Review

ΓÇ£Extraordinarily good . . . An important contribution to studies of the Los Angeles basin, the book ought to have wider appeal among scholars of racial formation, suburbanization, and the development of the American West.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇö Don Mitchell, author of The Lie of the Land: Migrant Workers and the California Landscape



ΓÇ£Deftly blending social history and cultural critique, BarracloughΓÇÖs fine book forces us to think in new ways about the relationships between rural and urban areas, between the suburb and the city, and between the past and the present.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöGeorge Lipsitz, author of The Possessive Investment in Whiteness Geography / Urban Studies



ΓÇ£A fine addition to the growing literature on Los Angeles and suburbia, as well as whiteness and the complicated history of landscape preservation. . . . [I]t connects the San Fernando Valley to regional, national, and global history. In telling the making of the distinctive landscape of the San Fernando Valley, Barraclough has written a book relevant to any reader interested in modern U.S. cities, suburbs, and society.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöLawrence Culver, Environmental History


ΓÇ£BarracloughΓÇÖs chief insight is discerning how those linking suburbia to the mythic west have managed purposefully to construct racial identities and maintain white privilege in the San Fernando Valley (and elsewhere in the west). The book is a richly detailed, lucidly written, and astute history of the San Fernando Valley. It belongs alongside other important histories of the region by Kevin Starr, Robert Fogelson, William Fulton, Becky M. Nicolaides, and too few others.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöRonald A. Davidson, Journal of Historical Geography


ΓÇ£To [the] list of must-reads, Angelenos especially should add Laura BarracloughΓÇÖs Making the San Fernando Valley. . . .She offers some sharp insights into the historical pressures and contemporary dilemmas confronting a once-rural landscape. . . .spot on.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöChar Miller, Southern California Quarterly
About the Author

Laura R. Barraclough is an assistant professor of sociology at Kalamazoo College. She is a native of the San Fernando Valley and received degrees from the University of Southern California and the University of California San Diego.

File Size: 3523 KB
Print Length: 316 pages
Publisher: University of Georgia Press (January 1, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B004HINJI6

 
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Fernando-Valley-Transformation-ebook/dp/B004HINJI6/



Tags: racism, white privilege, anglo, europe, european, caucasian, white, black, people of color, latino, latin-american, class, sociology, oppression, blindness, double standard, discrimination, oppression, polarization, unconcious, african studies, ethics, philosophy, tim wise, california, usa, america, san fernando, valley, cowboy, rural, west, racial tension, whitewash, narrative, victim, victimization,