This is the first major sociological report on the lives, status and public policy needs of the Chicana elderly, a population which is generally poor and has been stereotyped as widows and grandmothers. Elisa Facio offers insight into how Chicana elderly cope with their economic and cultural marginality, and how they gain the personal and financial resources they require. The book relates how scholars and public policy makers have previously understood the world of Chicana elderly, and provides new data on the social meaning of Chicana old age, specifying implications of that meaning for...

Fleshing the Spirit brings together established and new writers exploring the relationships between the physical body, the spirit and spirituality, and social justice activism. Examining the complex and dynamic connections among these concepts, the writers emphasize the value of flesh and blood experience as a site of knowledge. They argue that spirituality something quite different from institutional religious practice can heal the mind/body split and set the stage for social change. Spirituality, they argue, is a necessary component of an alternative political agenda focused on...