Publications

About My Publications

Deena J. González works on nineteenth century US Western history with a focus on women, race, and ethnicity. Her publications, beginning in 1983 and until the current year of 2024 span a wide range seeking to fill a gap in knowledge about Spanish-Mexican origin women. She has helped establish the field of Chicana Studies and participates, as her publications indicate, in centering and recovering the history of women who were often rendered invisible by those who forget that the US Southwest belonged to Native peoples before it was part of the US, to Spanish conqueror-settlers, and to Mexicans when that country broke away from the Spanish Empire. Work exploring not just women’s presence and interests, but also their agency and actions comes alive in her many projects, from a monograph to co-edited Encyclopedias with Oxford University Press and over fifty-five published journal, anthologized, and re-printed articles. As the first Chicana to receive a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley’s history department, she credits much of this love of original, primary research with her time spent in such archives as the Bancroft Library, the AGN in Mexico City, and the Spanish archives in Sevilla, Spain.

NOTE: Clicking the thumbnails below will take you to the work’s page and off of the website.

Monographs

Refusing the Favor: The Spanish-Mexican Women of Santa Fe, 1820-1880

Refusing the Favor tells the little-known story of the Spanish-Mexican women who saw their homeland become part of New Mexico. A corrective to traditional narratives of the period, it carefully and lucidly documents the effects of colonization, looking closely at how the women lived both before and after the United States took control of the region.

Focusing on Santa Fe, which was long one of the largest cities west of the Mississippi, Deena González demonstrates that women's responses to the conquest were remarkably diverse and that their efforts to preserve their culture were complex and long-lasting. Drawing on a range of sources, from newspapers to wills, deeds, and court records, González shows that the change to U.S. territorial status did little to enrich or empower the Spanish-Mexican inhabitants. The vast majority, in fact, found themselves quickly impoverished, and this trend toward low-paid labor, particularly for women, continues even today. González both examines the long-term consequences of colonization and draws illuminating parallels with the experiences of other minorities.

Refusing the Favor also describes how and why Spanish-Mexican women have remained invisible in the histories of the region for so long. It avoids casting the story as simply "bad" Euro-American migrants and "good" local people by emphasizing the concrete details of how women lived. It covers every aspect of their experience, from their roles as businesswomen to the effects of intermarriage, and it provides an essential key to the history of New Mexico. Anyone with an interest in Western history, gender studies, Chicano/a studies, or the history of borderlands and colonization will find the book an invaluable resource and guide.

Editorships

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements (OEPoL) provides a comprehensive source of information on the diverse historical and contemporary experiences of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Incorporating key material from the acclaimed four-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States (OUP, 2005), this ground-breaking publication addresses the significant ways in which the Latino and Latina populations have shaped the political, legal, and social institutions of the United States, with new and updated scholarship on political movements and organizations, important legal cases, minority-rights laws, and immigration legislation.

The two-volume OEPoL contains over 450 topical entries written by key academics, intellectuals, and scholars. The articles range from expansive survey essays, to biographies that document the lives of important individuals in Latino and Latina history, to interdisciplinary entries focused on essential themes and issues. Supplemented by over 50 images and a bibliography of suggested readings for each entry, OEPoL ensures that this timely, increasingly prominent subject receives the reference coverage it deserves.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos & Latinas In The United States

A landmark scholarly work, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States offers comprehensive, reliable, and accessible information about the fastest growing minority population in the nation. With an unprecedented scope and cutting-edge scholarship, the Encyclopedia draws together the diverse historical and contemporary experiences in the United States of Latinos and Latinas from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Over 900 A to Z articles ranging in length from 500 words to 7,500 words written by academics, scholars, writers, artists, and journalists, address such broad topics as identity, art, politics, religion, education, health, and history. Each entry has its own bibliography and cross-references and is signed by its author.

Essential for scholarly and professional researchers as well as the classroom and library, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States will fill a void in the historical scholarship of an under-served population.

The Chicana Matters Series

Co-edited by Antonia Castañeda and Deena J. González, the Chicana Matters series focuses on one of the largest population groups in the United States today, documenting the lives, values, philosophies, and artistry of contemporary Chicanas. Books in this series may be richly diverse, reflecting the experiences of Chicanas themselves, and incorporating a broad spectrum of topics and fields of inquiry. Cumulatively, the books represent the leading knowledge and scholarship in a significant and growing field of research and, along with the literary works, art, and activism of Chicanas, underscore their significance in the history and culture of the United States.

Although there have been substantial contributions to Chicana literature and criticism over the past few decades, Chicanas are still underrepresented and underappreciated in the mainstream literary world and virtually nonexistent in the canon. Writers like Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, and Gloria Anzaldúa have managed to find larger audiences and critical respect, but there are legions of Chicana writers and artists who have been marginalized and ignored despite their talent. Even in Chicano anthologies, the focus has tended to be more on male writers. Chicanas have often found themselves without a real home in the academic world.

Tey Diana Rebolledo has been writing about Chicana/Latina identity, literature, discrimination, and feminism for more than two decades. In this collection of essays, she brings together both old and new works to give a state-of-the-moment look at the still largely unanswered questions raised by vigilant women of color throughout the last half of the twentieth century. An intimate introductory essay about Rebolledo's personal experiences as the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Peruvian father serves to lay the groundwork for the rest of the volume. The essays delve into the historical development of Chicana writing and its early narratives, the representation of Chicanas as seen on book covers, Chicana feminism, being a Chicana critic in the academy, Chicana art history, and Chicana creativity. Rebolledo encourages "guerrillera" warfare against academia in order to open up the literary canon to Chicana/Latina writers who deserve validation.

Articles, Periodicals, etc.

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From Hispana to Chicana: Lesbian to Queer or Torna-atrás

González, Deena J. From Hispana to Chicana: Lesbian to Queer or Torna-atrás. Camino Real, vol.14, no.18, 2023, pp. 21-45

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Women, Conquest, and Imperialism in the American West

González, Deena J. "Women, Conquest, and Imperialism in the American West". Lisa Materson and Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor, eds. The Oxford Handbook of American Women’s and Gender History (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2018)

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Latina/o Gender and Sexuality

González, Deena J. "Latina/o Gender and Sexuality". Ellie D. Hernández in Megan E. Springate, ed. LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History (Washington, D.C.: The National Park Foundation for the National Park Service, 2017)

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Politics of Sexuality

Obler, Suzanne and Deena J. González. "Politics of Sexuality". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements (Oxford University Press, 2015)

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Rodolfo Acuña

Obler, Suzanne and Deena J. González. "Rodolfo Acuña". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements (Oxford University Press, 2015)

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The West

Obler, Suzanne and Deena J. González. "The West". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements (Oxford University Press, 2015)

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Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women In Academia

Deena J. González. "Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women In Academia". Foreward, introduction, Part V, to Gabriella Gutíerrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores-Niemann, et. al., eds. (Boulder, 8 Col: Utah State University Press, 2012)

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It’s not about the Virgen of the Conquest, but about the Conquest of the Virgen: Making Privates Public

González, Deena J. "It’s not about the Virgen of the Conquest, but about the Conquest of the Virgen: Making Privates Public". Alicia Gaspar de Alba, and Alma Lopez, eds. Our Lady of Controversy: AlmaLopez’s Irreverent Apparition (Univ. of Texas Press, 2011)

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Reflections on the Field

González, Deena J. "Reflections on the Field". Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, Vol 35, No.1 (Spring 2010).

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Surveying the Western History Association: Who’s WHA? Patterns of Exclusion

González, Deena J. "Surveying the Western History Association: Who’s WHA? Patterns of Exclusion". Western Historical Quarterly 38(3)(Autumn,2007)

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A Life of Service: Remembrances From a Teacher’s Daughter

González, Deena J. "A Life of Service: Remembrances From a Teacher’s Daughter". Dossier Section, Aztlán 31(1)(Spring,2006).

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History Practice Roundtable: Embracing Equity: Discussing Inequity

González, Deena J. "History Practice Roundtable: Embracing Equity: Discussing Inequity". Response to Linda Kerber, Journal of Women’s History, 18:1 (Spring, 2006)