This book focuses on the struggle by Latin Americans to open and maintain Chicano/a Studies programs in institutions of higher education in California. It raises critical questions for social theory about multicultural democracy, dealing with topics such as immigration, affirmative action and civil rights. Mora explains the links between this social movement and the needs of the Chicano/a people, the changes taking place in higher education, and the trends in the overall ethnic-nationalist movements in the U.S. where Latinos have been playing an increasingly leading role.

"This study makes excellent use of personal interviews, the records of Chicano activist groups, student revolutionary pamphlets, newspapers, fieldwork narratives of the Chicano studies strikes, contemporary journals, and a wealth of secondary scholarship relating to higher education." - Southern California Quarterly