Keywords

  • chicano/a studies
  • community and regional sociology
  • community sociology
  • comparative race and ethnicity
  • critical migration studies
  • cultural studies
  • development sociology
  • economy and society
  • latino studies
  • political economy
  • political sociology
  • social research methods
  • social stratification
  • social theory
  • sociology of education
  • sociology of race and ethnicity
  • state

Mize, Ronald L.

Assistant Professor
My scholarly research focuses on the historical origins of racial and class oppression in the lives of Mexicano/as residing in the United States. Due to the reliance on Mexican labor in the rural industries of agriculture, mining, and railroad construction, my historical research explores the class and race formations of Anglo-Chicano relations as they relate to these sectors of rural spaces and the economy. I investigate the degree to which contemporary immigrant labor is informed by the history of Mexican incorporation into the rural United States. I seek to understand the underlying assumptions about nation, race, identity, gender and class in how the public forms our opinions about immigration and part of my hope is to carve out a new paradigm for understanding both the political economy and culture of immigration as well as its interconnections. Current research projects include: • A social history of the U.S.-Mexico Bracero Program, 1942-1964. • The U.S. consumption of Mexican immigrant labor from 1942 to the present. • A critical analysis of US Census data on "Hispanics/Latinos" with an emphasis on the "Latinization" of rural New York and the United States. • Intermountain West Resort Development and Mexican Re-Emerging Destinations: The New Economy, Tourism, Boom/Bust Cycles, and Serving Classes.

research

research and scholarship focus

My research focuses on Latino community formation and how the history of Mexican immigration shapes contemporary Anglo-Chicano relations. I am interested in the rural industries of agriculture, mining, and railroad construction and their incorporation of Mexican labor. By connecting past and present, my contemporary research builds upon the history of Mexican labor incorporation and its relevance to new economies and migrant destinations.

primary investigator of

research areas

domestic geographic focus

affiliations

faculty appointment in

member of graduate field

other Cornell affiliations

teaching

teaching focus

My teaching responsibilities are equally split between Latino Studies and Development Sociology. I teach Latino Communities, Latinos, Law, and Identity, and Comparative US Racial and Ethnic Relations that all have a major focus on Latino issues. I previously co-taught Introduction to Sociology and taught Comparative Social Inequalities last fall to fulfill my teaching commitment to Development Sociology. Courses Taught: DSOC/LSP/AMST 375 Comparative U.S. Racial and Ethnic Relations; DSOC/LSP 355/AMST 357 Latinos, Law, and Identity; DSOC/LSP 230/AMST 231 Latino Communities; DSOC 101 Introduction to Sociology; DSOC 370/SOC 371 Comparative Social Inequalities. I will teach a graduate level seminar on Comparative Race and Ethnicity next year.

teaches

service

outreach focus

Current Hatch-funded research allows me to explore Latino immigrant incorporation into rural New York. My research team analyzes Census data quality issues, the Latinization of rural spaces, and comparisons with other regions of the United States. A research agenda has begun to develop in the Rocky Mountains where the early history of mining boom/bust towns are informing the region`s economic restructuring in the development of high-amenity resort towns with intensive service sector labor market demands, most often filled by Mexican immigrants.

publications

speaker at Cornell event

Keywords: chicano/a studies, community and regional sociology, community sociology, comparative race and ethnicity, critical migration studies, cultural studies, development sociology, economy and society, latino studies, political economy, political sociology, social research methods, social stratification, social theory, sociology of education, sociology of race and ethnicity, state