As the population of the United States becomes increasingly complex ethnically and racially, an understanding of the changing demographics along with their domestic and foreign sources and history, as well as the resulting implications, take on added significance. Groups that are of “Latino” or “Hispanic” background have been especially relevant, even controversial, in this story. Two Latino groups, one somewhat familiar, the other largely unstudied by American social science scholars, are at the center of the two books considered here. A grasp of the complicated developments engendered by immigration and associated change is aided by, indeed seems to require, attention not only to various groups but also to the use of multiple analytical lenses. While political science research has made some notable intellectual contributions in these areas, more are needed and certainly welcome. Accordingly, these two books are important in that they complement and supplement existing research, both substantively and theoretically. Both bring analytical approaches that are somewhat distinctive from much of the existing scholarship, and they also provide engaging arguments and evidence. At the same time, both, in different ways and to different degrees, defy simple summary and evaluation because of the nuanced and often detailed stories they tell.

Of the two major groups examined in these two works, one (Puerto Ricans, or “Boricua”) has a long-standing presence in the United States, though it has a convoluted and evolving situation. (The term Boricua, used in the title of the Sanchez book, is most often used by those who emphasize historical links to indigenous populations in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.) The presence of the other group, Salvadorans, is of more recent vintage. Each of the authors sets out to challenge conventional notions of central concepts and reframe those in novel ways in general, but especially as the ideas apply to these groups. Provocative interpretations are advanced in both: Susan Bibler Coutin confronts our common understandings of ideas of citizenship, sovereignty, political territory, and boundaries, among others; Jose Ramon Sanchez takes on prevailing beliefs about the concept of “power” and fashions a useful metaphor to guide his analysis.

Sanchez's study of Puerto Ricans seeks to dissect the substantive underpinnings, the meanings, and, in turn, the power or influence (or lack thereof) of this group in American society. The book is structured chronologically, with a “dance theory of power” (developed in Chap. 1) interwoven. The author does not dwell upon the formal citizenship status of Puerto Ricans (an issue that preoccupies a good part of Coutin's work), perhaps understandably because that is at least technically a settled question (at least at present; complete Puerto Rican independence might some day change this). The Coutin book is ethnographic, a work of “legal anthropology,” that subtly and powerfully explores the relationship of El Salvador and Salvadoran immigrants with the United States, revealing an array of knotty, even contradictory, social understandings and public policies that at times seem more or less endemic within, as well as across, virtually all countries in the Western Hemisphere (and probably beyond that).

Coutin's insightful discussion examines numerous paradoxes in how we think about emigrants, seeking, among other things, to “draw attention to ways that incompatible realities are true simultaneously” (p. 5). While cast as, and certainly most focused on and informed by, relations between the United States and El Salvador, at its core the study speaks to a host of issues about contemporary immigration. The chapters are organized around themes and policy dilemmas, and each is examined conceptually, typically supplemented and informed by individual narratives, policy research, and other sources; the varied sources of evidence are an attractive aspect of the book. For instance, Coutin uses the term “nation of emigrants” in her title to emphasize that immigration involves more than just “absorbing immigrants”; immigration also “connects countries in regional and transnational labor, social, familial, and political networks.” She discusses how the El Salvadoran government has both sought to facilitate emigration to the United States and simultaneously maintain connections to those who have left; thus, those who are abroad or “absent” are also thought of as “present.” She also delineates policy debates about several issues, including the benefits and problems of hometown associations (e.g., how the policy goals of groups who form and contribute to these hometown associations might distort the policy goals of the recipient towns), and of remittances, which have benefits, but are also blamed for various social ills such as “family breakups, transculturation, dependency, crime, consumerism, and loss of productivity” (p. 122). In each instance, intriguing social and policy issues are thoughtfully raised and probed.

In general, Coutin's arguments suggest that we reflect on and reconsider our language and frames of reference to more appropriately comprehend the changes wrought by the various dimensions and consequences of immigration. If she does not always offer definitive conclusions about how exactly to do this, she takes us on a highly informative journey and provides a valuable conceptual map to guide further explorations. Political scientists may also find the book useful in its policy formulation and implementation dimensions, including the contrasts of U.S. policy toward El Salvador juxtaposed to other Central American countries, as shaped by American foreign policy interests and international relations orientations. There are strands of the study that have an appealing comparative public policy quality. That study may not be typical political science fare, but there is much to be learned from this excellent project.

Sanchez's historical treatment identifies three eras, defined by major events, as particularly critical in assessing the situation of Puerto Ricans in the United States in the twentieth century: the Cigar Makers' Strike of 1919, which is viewed as a pivotal moment from 1919 to 1945; “radicalism” from the World War II period until the mid-1960s, and “marginalization” from 1965 to the present; and a separate chapter that elaborates on the unique activities and impacts of the Young Lords, a group that used protest and other “unconventional” methods, and also discusses the “media” and “cultural estrangement.” The selection of emphasized issues and how they are portrayed brings a distinct perspective that can be best appreciated when compared with other works on the topic.

A central theme Sanchez puts forth is summarized in the following: “A great deal of the problem Puerto Ricans have in making real economic and political connections with this society is due to the reality that Americans place such little value on Puerto Rican culture” (p. 171). He marshals an array of evidence, some of which is rather unusual in “standard” political science analyses, in support of this and related assertions. Among the evidence he offers is the following: obituary reports about Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, and African Americans in U.S. newspapers and the New York Times from 1940 to 1978 (p. 139); the top 20 musical artists, by race, from 1955 to 1996 (p. 181); and “Heroes Selected” by a) U.S. high school and college students, 1980–89, and b) by adults in the United States, 2001 (p. 185). Sanchez takes all this information to be probative of his thesis about a virtual absence of Puerto Rican (and/or Latino) presence or recognition. He also includes data on elected officials to make similar points about the governmental arena. Thus, he situates Puerto Rican members of Congress (MCs) by presenting the voting records of a Puerto Rican MC (specifically, Rep. Jose Serrano, D-NY, from 1990 to 2002); the number of bills introduced by a Puerto Rican MC (again, Serrano) compared to a black member of Congress (Charles Rangel); and data on national TV coverage of minority congressmen, from 1969 to 1989 (with data on John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Robert Garcia, and Herman Badillo).

The presentation of various evidence notwithstanding, in some ways Sanchez appears to give but modest attention to what many would deem the most directly “political” aspects of the Puerto Rican situation; and at the same time he suggests that little has been accomplished by Puerto Rican elected officials at the national level (and perhaps elsewhere). For example, Sanchez discusses certain efforts, activity, and officeholding often thought of and examined under the rubric of “political incorporation” in much mainstream research, but he does not always develop these extensively in a way that would speak to other analyses. My sense is that what may seem modest attention to these issues results from his belief that the political is imbedded in the cultural and economic dimensions or that the three elements are so intertwined, indeed interdependent, that to highlight or privilege politics (or government) over the others would be misleading, if not simply incorrect. Alternatively, or in addition, his assessment that rather little has been achieved in the political arena might explain this. In any case, he seems simply to prefer this different analytical style.

Despite the richness of Sanchez's arguments, one is still left wondering about the exact explanation of how and/or why the Puerto Rican situation is what it is and has been, as he lays it out. While general factors are identified and specific manifestations thereof are chronicled, the particular ways in which the three factors work, alone and in combination, remain somewhat ambiguous, in my view. That is, he makes quite clear that there has been marginalization; however, the dynamics within and across spheres and political periods is somewhat elusive. So much social complexity may just outrun our ability to amply comprehend it.

These two books speak, albeit in different voices, to an array of issues germane to recent development in the American polity and should be of interest to a range of scholars. They follow in an intellectual tradition that includes such important works as Michael Jones-Correa's 1998 Between Two Nations: The Political Predicament of Latinos in New York City (though it is unfortunate that neither Coutin or Sanchez draw upon, or even cite, that book). The heightened racial/ethnic diversity in the United States will make these works yet more pertinent; stimulating in themselves, they nicely complement a consequential and growing body of research.