Were the legendary Chicano "bandidos" criminals, or were they community defenders resisting conquest and dispossession?
First published in 1973, Furia y Meurte: Los Bandidos Chicanos challenges conventional portrayals of prominent Mexican and Mexican American figures such as Tiburcio Vasquez, Joaquin Murieta, Elfego Baca, Juan N. Cortina, and Gregorio Cortez. Rather than accepting narratives that depict them as outlaws and criminals, the book reexamines their historical roles through the lens of social banditry, drawing on the influential framework developed by Eric Hobsbawm. By situating these figures within the context of Anglo imperial expansion and the violent incorporation of the Southwest, the text argues that they are better understood as symbols of community resistance and defenders of Mexican-origin populations. This republished edition, part of the Latinx Studies Collection, revives a foundational work of early Chicano scholarship that challenged dominant historical narratives and exposed the ways ethnic Mexicans were criminalized and misrepresented in academic and popular discourse. At the same time, it highlights the continuing relevance of these debates by connecting past forms of criminalization to contemporary experiences within Latinx communities.
This book is ideal for students, scholars, and researchers in Chicano and Latinx studies, history, ethnic studies, American studies, sociology, borderlands studies, and social justice, as well as readers interested in resistance movements, historical memory, and the politics of representation.