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Acknowledgments

The idea for this book took root during my undergraduate days at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Claremont exposed me to professors and students who believed that another world was possible and that we could organize our way to it. This was a wild and wonderful thing, especially for a first-generation college kid who grew up in California’s poor rural agricultural towns. I was lucky to take a class with Mike Davis during those early years. He was nice enough to take an interest in me; invite me out for a drink; and listen patiently while I stumbled through ideas about urban space, race, and globalization. My book begins with the dismantling of the Kaiser steel mill in Fontana, California, which is where Mike left off in City of Quartz. It is a testament to the impression he made on me. Thanks, Mike, for encouraging me to write about where I came from. José Calderón and Lourdes Arguelles taught me what it meant to be a scholar activist. Nigel Boyle got me through college by encouraging me to think critically about labor and class and by showing me incredible kindness. Thank you, Nigel, for everything: the dinners, the beers, and the various travels through foreign lands.

I wrote the first words of this book during my time as a graduate student at UC Berkeley. It was a magical place that gave me the luxury of reading day and night. I chose Berkeley because I wanted to study with Ruth Wilson Gilmore. She was in the Bay Area for only a brief period before leaving for Los Angeles and then New York, but her intellectual spirit is woven deeply into this book. Special thanks go to my adviser, Richard Walker. What can I say about DW? He’s the best. You got me through, DW, and for that I will always be grateful. David Montejano and José David Saldívar were also on my committee. Both read my work, gave me feedback, and pushed me to think about big questions and concrete details.

My intellectual travels brought me back to Southern California and to life as a Chicano professor at USC. By far the best thing about being at USC as a young scholar was the incredible people in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity. Thank you to all my wonderful colleagues, who gave me space and time to run the tenure clock rat race. Several of my ASE colleagues deserve special mention. Laura Pulido is a fierce ally, an intellectual trailblazer, and a professional godsend. She brought me tacos when I broke my foot and showed me how to survive in an academic universe in which few Chicanx critical geographers exist. I have learned a tremendous amount from my friend and colleague Manuel Pastor. He has also opened many doors for me. Macarena Gomez-Barris served as my interim chair, a mentor, and a friend. She got things done and made academia a more humane experience for me. Viet Thanh Ngyuen also served as a one-year interim chair. He did so during one of the most trying periods of my life. Thanks, Viet, for bringing institutional support when I needed it. Nayan Shah has shepherded my dossier through various milestones. He has been consistently generous and kind. Jody Agius Vallejo provided professional mentorship and a patient ear when I most needed it. To Veronica Terriquez, we miss you but I’m happy that you are happy. I also need to thank the ASE staff—Soñia Rodriguez, Kitty Lai, and Jujuana Lakes Preston—without whom our department would not function.

Several people, programs, and institutions provided financial and technical support for this project. The Institute for the Study of Social Issues (ISSI) at UC Berkeley awarded me a graduate fellowship that was invaluable during the early years of this project. Even more rewarding were the relationships that I built with other fellows and staff members at ISSI. I received a Mellon postdoctoral fellowship from the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at USC, which allowed me to move the dissertation into the manuscript phase. Thanks to the amazing Rhonda Moore and the rest of the staff for supporting me during my time at CSSI and PERE. Niels Hooper and Bradley Depew at University of California Press kept this project on track even when it seemed to be going off the rails. I thank you both. Finally, a special shout-out to Peter Cooper Mancall and the office of the dean of USC Dornsife College for providing financial and institutional support for various parts of this project.

This book would not have been possible without the work, struggles, and hope of the countless workers, organizers, and scholars who provided the stories for my manuscript. Some of you will undoubtedly recognize your voices in these pages. I hope my work did you justice. Several other scholars made this manuscript better by either reading parts of it or helping me think through some of the ideas. To Edna Bonacich, thank you for teaching me about logistics and the ports. You are a tremendous model for the kind of engaged public intellectual that I strive to be. Ellen Reese and Jason Struna were patient and gave me an opportunity to coauthor an important article about warehouse workers. Eric Sheppard, Don Mitchell, Chris Benner, and Ange-Marie Hancock all participated in a book workshop that turned this manuscript into a much better book. Cheers to you all.

To my wonderful friends, thanks for your patience and for making me feel human during what sometimes felt like complete madness. Life as a junior academic and a father has made me an absentee friend. I appreciate those of you who stuck around. Carolina Bank Muñoz has been a camarada, in every sense of the word, for decades. Thanks for bringing Emilio and Ted into our lives. Stacey Murphy and Filip Stabrowski shared many meals, drinks, and conversations along the way about absolutely pressing and deliciously petty topics. I miss you both but look forward to our too-infrequent encounters. Johntell Washington, Sylvia Nam, and Carmen Rojas were also part of our dangerous POC PhD crew.

Finally, I want to thank the family that I was born into and the family that I have made. My mother, Esperanza Ibarra De Lara, and my father, José Torres De Lara, met when they were teenagers at a farm labor camp in Arizona. Both were undocumented, neither ever went to school, and together they made a life for themselves and their seven children: Maria, Rosa, Alfredo, Miguel, Jose Jr., me, and Gregorio. We grew up harvesting the agricultural crops and living in the dilapidated housing that too often define the past and present lives of migrant farmworkers. I carry them with me, and they have carried me when I needed them. I am also grateful for my brother Raul; we have so much to catch up on. Gracias, familia. Saludos too to all the De Lara clan in Coachella and to the Ibarras in Lamont. Abrazos to all my primas and primos in Somerton, Arizona.

I’ve had to make my own family away from Coachella. It seems like wherever I go, Manny Mercado is always nearby. He’s been like a brother since I was fourteen years old. Ixchel, Emiliano, and Niko are the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever known. They are my moon, my movement, and my hope. This book has taken many hours away from my time with them, but they constantly surprise me with their love and resilience. Thanks to my coparent, Veronica Carrizales; it wasn’t easy, but we managed to balance demanding work schedules and child rearing.

My most profound thanks go to my life partner, Wendy Cheng. I would be lost without her love, patience, and guidance. Thank you for listening to me talk endlessly about this project and for reading different parts of the manuscript. I am blessed to have you in my life. I love you.