Fruteros: Street Vending, Illegality, and Ethnic Community in Los Angeles

Rocío Rosales

Published by University of California Press 2020

Fruteros

Street Vending, Illegality, and Ethnic Community in Los Angeles

Rocío Rosales

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520974166

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book examines the social worlds of young Latino street vendors as they navigate the complexities of local and federal laws prohibiting both their presence and their work on street corners. Known as fruteros, they sell fruit salads out of pushcarts throughout Los Angeles and are part of the urban landscape.

Drawing on six years of fieldwork, Rocío Rosales offers a compelling portrait of their day-to-day struggles. In the process, she examines how their paisano (hometown compatriot) social networks both help and exploit them. Much of the work on newly arrived Latino immigrants focuses on the ways in which their social networks allow them to survive. Rosales argues that this understanding of ethnic community simplifies the complicated ways in which social networks and social capital work. Fruteros sheds light on those complexities and offers the concept of the “ethnic cage” to explain both the promise and pain of community.

Author / Editor information

RosalesRocío:

Rocío Rosales is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Becoming a Frutero Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
3. Managing Risk on the Street Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
4. Personal and Professional Entanglements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
5. Ethnic Ties in Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
6. Dos Mundos Transformed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
7. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
Afterword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Appendix: A Personal Note on Research Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191