Another City Is Possible: Interethnic Organizing in Contemporary Los Angeles

Abstract

This essay examines cross-racial political activism in Los Angeles from 1992 to the present day, an era unique for both the nature and quantity of working-class radicalism. This paper offers a brief sketch of the primary contexts, composition, and contradictions of local interethnic organizing. After beginning with a historical overview of previous moments of multiracial politics in Southern California, I turn to a discussion of contemporary events, tracing three distinct, though overlapping, milieus of trade union activity, social justice organizing, and cultural politics. The third and final section of the paper introduces a brief discussion of some of the critical factors that impede or obstruct cross-racial politics in Southern California today.