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

by Rocío Rosales

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology

208 pages, Paperback

Published May 19, 2020

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This work by Rosales shows the effects that the ethnic cage has over fruit vendors while simultaneously examining the relationship between reciprocity and poverty. Within the frutero community, there have been examples of prosperity and hardship. Rosales uses personal experience, one that spanned six years of fieldwork as well as the stories and perspectives of the fruteros she befriended where she saw their promise and pain. Rosales personally visited the fruit vendors and would work to gain their trust that would eventually lead to them trusting her and opening up about their experience, many of which were difficult.

With that out of the way, throughout the novel, something seemed off to me. After a class discussion, I came to realize that it's because of the tone that the author puts out. Rosales didn't seem to know what she was getting herself into. Even though she was personally involved in a lot of the lives of the fruteros, it doesn't mean she knew what they were going through because she doesn't have to live through their difficulties. Not only that, but she seemed to demonize people for doing what they needed to do to survive.

[PVLD Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very insightful book to read and I highly recommend that everyone read (or if you don’t have the time, at least skim the first half)! The author writes from an academic, ethnographical standpoint (because she’s a sociology professor at UC Irvine), so some parts may be difficult to comprehend or just feel laborious to get through. It’s definitely not a “read for pleasure” kind of book, but I think the contents and the context that those of us who live here in Southern California make it so that the book should be recommended (or even required) for all college students.

Reviewed by Eori, library page
Find it at the library here.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

We need more books like this that can help explain the world through the study of one group of people. One can read this book and imagine immigrants anywhere in the world encountering similar issues as they use familial, geography-based, or ethnicity-based networks to gain a foothold in a new country.

Overall, the book is concise and excludes unnecessary detail. Every chapter is closely related to the main topic. Well done!

[Cesar Rosales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both informative and engrossing, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The story it tells spares no details about the inner workings of Mexican migrants' lives in the US. The concept of the ethnic cage fittingly captures this complexity.

[Meghan Van Note · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommendation from my immigration law prof. Rosales use of the term “ethnic cage” really clung to me as something that pulls apart from ethnic solidarity or ethic enmity - really interesting how internal ties hv great capacity to become exploitative

[Olivia Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 read for class but i thoroughly enjoyed this.

[McCain Library]

This title is available as an eBook through McCain Library and can be accessed here: https://agnesscott.on.worldcat.org/oc...