Benjamin Márquez

Prof. Márquez’s teaching and research interests are in political sociology and American politics. He has published extensively on Latinos and American politics; his research has focused on Mexican American social movement organizations. He has served as the Director of the Chicano/Latino Studies Program.  He published research chronicles political mobilization in South El Paso, Texas, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and several communities in Texas.  His latest book, Democratizing Texas Politics:  Race, Identity, and Mexican American Empowerment, 1945-2002, was published by the University of Texas Press in 2014.  Having completed the first book-length study of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), he is now preparing a monograph on contemporary Latino interest groups and advocacy organizations. It is tentatively titled, The Professionals: Latino Advocacy in the Age of Grant Making.