Faculty Bio

Dr. Manuel Barajas is Professor of Sociology at California State University-Sacramento, and specializes in immigration studies, Chicana/o communities, and race, gender, and class inequality. He obtained his B.A. at UC Davis, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at UC Riverside. He is author of The Xaripu Community across Borders: Labor Migration, Community, and Family that received a Distinguished Book Award Honorable Mention from the Latino Section of the American Sociological Association. His work has been published by the University of Notre Dame Press, Contemporary Sociology, American Behavioral Scientist, Societies without Borders: Human Rights and the Social Sciences, Bilingual Research Journal, Sociological Perspectives, University of Arizona Press, Latino Studies Journal, among others. Manuel enjoys collaborating with students and community and producing knowledge/advocacy that empowers marginalized communities. Dr. Barajas serves as Chair of the Taskforce for the Center on Race, Immigration, and Social Justice.  

COURSES THAT I TEACH

• Soc 118: Chicano Community
• Soc 120: Ethnic and Race Relations
• Soc 122: Immigration Studies
• Soc 125: Social Inequalities
• Soc 265: Race and Ethnic Relations (graduate level)

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Riverside

M.A., Sociology, University of California, Riverside

B.A., Sociology, University of California, Davis

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

• Chicana/o Sociology
• Immigration and Transnationalism
• Race, Class, and Gender Inequality
• Race and Ethnic Relations
• Higher Education
• Social Pyschology

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Barajas, Manuel. 2009. The Xaripu Community Across Borders: Labor Migration, Community, and Family. University of Notre Dame Press.

Distinguished Contribution to Research Book Award (Honorable Mention). American Sociological Association, Latina/o Sociology Section, 2011.

Reviewed in Social Forces; Journal of American Ethnic History; Latin American Politics & Society; Bulletin of Latin American Research; Reference & Research Book News

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Barajas, Manuel. 2014. “Colonial Dislocations and Incorporation of Indigenous Migrants from Mexico to the United States.” American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 58(1): 53-63.

Barajas, Manuel. 2012. “A Comparative Analysis of Mexican- and European-origin Migration and Incorporation to the United States: Proposing Interactive Colonization Theory.” Societies without Borders: Human Rights and the Social Sciences, Vol. 7 (3): 264–295. 

Ruiz, Nadeen, and Manuel Barajas. 2012. “Multiple Perspectives on the Schooling of Mexican Indigenous Students in the U.S. Issues for Future Research.” Bilingual Research Journal, Vol. 35: 125–144. 

Barajas, Manuel, and Elvia Ramirez. 2007. “Beyond Home/Host Dichotomies: A Comparative Examination of Gender Relations in a Transnational Mexican Community.” Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 50 (3) Fall.

Aguirre, Adalberto Jr., and Manuel Barajas. 2000. “Intimate Social Contact, Cultural Proximity, and Prejudice Toward Mexican-Origin Persons: A Modified Application of Contact Theory.” Latino Studies Journal, Vol. 11 (2) Spring: 67-87.

Book Chapters

Barajas, Manuel. 2017. “Weaving Testimonies of the San Joaquin Valley Fields, Community, and Higher Education: Affirming Critical Knowledge and Justice from the Bottom Up.” In Rethinking Home: Testimonios from California’s Agricultural Valles, edited by Gloria Cuádraz and Yolanda Flores.

Barajas, Manuel. 2016. “Immigration Reform.” In People of Color in the United States: Contemporary Issues in Education, Work, Communities, Health, and Immigration, Volume 4, edited by Alvaro Huerta, Norma Iglesias-Prieto, and Donathan Brown: ABC-CLIO Greenwood: 198-203.

Barajas, Manuel. 2014.  “Benito Juarez and Cinco de Mayo: An Ultimate American Victory.” In Palabra: The Book of Living Essays, edited by Santos Torres, Petraglyph Publishing. 

Liu, Amy Q., Otis Scott, Joseph Sheley, Frank Whitlatch, Ernest Cowles, and Manuel Barajas. 2008. “Social Research and the Sacramento State Annual Survey of the Region.”  In Research, Advocacy, and Political Engagement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives through Service Learning, edited by Sally Cahill Tannenbaum. Stylus Publishers. 

Book Reviews

Barajas, Manuel (2016). Review of Racial Spoils from Native Soils: How Neoliberalism Steals Indigenous Lands in Highland Peru, by Arthur Scarritt. Contemporary Sociology, 45 (6): 784-786.

Barajas, Manuel. (2016). Review of Skills of the 'Unskilled': Work and Mobility among Mexican Migrants, by Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Ruben Hernandez-Leon, and Jean-Luc Demonsant. Contemporary Sociology, 45 (5): 604-606.

Peer Reviewed Encyclopedia Entries

Barajas, Manuel. 2013. “Mexican-origin Indigenous Immigration to the United States: A Historical and Intersectional Perspective.” In Immanuel Ness (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishers.

Research Reports

Ruiz, Nadeen, Manuel Barajas, Irene McGinty, and Dana Romo. 2011. "Weaving Learning Communities Across Borders: Mexican Indigenous Students and Families in California.” An Introductory Professional Development Module for Educators, Office of Migrant, Indian, and International Education California Department of Education, June 30: 1–36.

Barajas, Manuel. 2011. “Challenging Barriers to Higher Education in California.” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, June 27. 

SELECT HONORS AND AWARDS

Outstanding Wisdom and Leadership (OWL) Award, Peer and Academic Resource Center (PARC) and Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars Program, California State University, Sacramento, 2017

Faculty Leaders Fellowship, Pardee RAND Graduate School, 2017

Oustanding Community Service Award, College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, California State University, Sacramento, 2014

All People's Recognition Ceremony Award, Multicultural Center, California State University, Sacramento (awarded 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012)

McNair Scholars Program Mentor Recognition Award (awarded 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2010)

Meso-American Indigenous Languages and Peoples Alliance [MILPA] Recognition Award, Fresno, CA, 2009

Teacher Recognition Award, Oaxaca Bi-national Teacher's Association, 2007

Research and Pedagogy Award, College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies (SSIS), California State University, Sacramento, 2006

University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS) Dissertation Research Grant Award, 1999

SELECT LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE

Chair, W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award Selection Committee, American Sociological Association, 2017

Board Member, Teatro Espejo, Sacramento, CA, 2017-present

Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Sociology, 2015-

Chair, Publications Committee, Pacific Sociological Association, 2012-15

Interim Director, Serna Center, California State University, Sacramento, 2012-13

Member, Distinguished Contribution to Research Book Award Committee, Latina/o Section, American Sociological Association, 2012

Council Member, Race, Gender, & Class Section, American Sociological Association, 2010-13

Co-Chair, Chicano(a)/Latino(a) Faculty and Staff Association, California State University, Sacramento, 2010-present

Co-Chair, Faculty Senate's Committee on Diversity and Equity (CODE), 2008-12

College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies (SSIS) Faculty Representative, Academic Advising Center, California State University, Sacramento, 2004-06

PRESENTATIONS AND MEDIA INTERVIEWS

Selected Academic Presentations

“Parallel Nativism in Immigration Politics and in Higher Education: An Intersectional Analysis of Chicanas/os in the Twenty-First Century,” Paper presented at the Pacific Sociological Association, Portland, Oregon, April 7, 2017.

Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love across Borders, by Abrego, Leisy J. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013. Manuel Barajas reviewed book with author at the American Sociological Association, Seattle, Washington, August 23, 2016.

“Understanding Mexican Migration and Transnationalism in the 21st Century: An Extended Case Study in Northern California,” Paper presented at the 2014 American Sociological Association Conference, San Francisco, California, August 16, 2014

“A Century of Mexican-Origin Migration and Policy Implications in the United States: A Historical and Intersectional Analyses,” Paper presented at the 2014 National Association of Chicana/Chicano Studies Conference at Salt Lake City, Utah, April 10–12, 2014

“Bracero y Mujeres Trabajadoras del 1942–64” [Guestworkers and Women Workers 1942–64], Panelist paper presented at the Northern California National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) FOCO Conference, Woodland Community College, California, February 22, 2014

“The Mexican/American Border: Are We doing the Right Thing?” Paper presented at the Brainfood Talks event for the UC Davis Retiree Association and UC Davis Emeriti Association, November 14, 2013.

 “Multiple perspectives on the Education of Transnational Indigenous Students.”  Co-authored paper presented at AERA Conference at Vancouver, Canada, April 14-15, 2012

“Chican@ Faculty in the California State University System: Issues of Representation and Equity.” Paper presented at California Faculty Association Equity Conference at Los Angeles, CA, March 9–10, 2012

“Mi Corrido/My Story: Teaching Ethnic and Race Relations through Students’ Stories.”  Paper co-presented with Aya Ida and Elvia Ramirez at the Pacific Sociological Association Conference, Seattle Washington, April 10-13, 2011

“Chicanas/os in the 21^st Century: An Emergent Californian Majority in a Minority Status,” Organized/Presided at California Sociological Association, Berkeley, CA November 13, 2009

Selected Community Presentations

Keynote Speaker for Mujeres Ayudando la Raza Youth Conference, Sacramento State, April 21, 2017.

Presented and moderated panel, “Colonialism from ‘Highest Heaven' to Darker History,” at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, January 15, 2017.

Keynote speaker for Educational Fair organized by Mujeres Ayudando la Raza (MAR) at Farm Labor Camp, 777 Mathews Road, French Camp, August 10, 2014

Guest speaker for Project Voice: “Breaking Barriers: Por el Futuro de tu Educacion y tu Comunidad” at Centro Migrante, Stockton, California, July 13, 2013

Guest speaker at the Noche de Ciencias Conference at The Language Academy, Sacramento, California, September 26, 2012

Television and Radio Interviews

Interviewed by BlogTalk Radio host Armando Sanchez about Migration, Deportation of Children, and Policy, 2014

Interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR) about Mixteco speaking students and families in Watsonville and Oxnard, CA, 2014

Interviewed by Univision television station about Latino/a college enrollment, 2013

Interviewed by Swedish Public Television (SVT) about Mexican migration, 2012

Interviewed by Univision television station, San Francisco Chronicle, and UC Santa Cruz Radio about higher education, 2010

Guest speaker on radio show "Nuestro Foro" KFCF, 88.1FM on Purepecha Migration, 2009

Guest commentator on Voz y Voto (Univision) on higher education, 2008

Guest commentator on Voz y Voto (Univision) television on Mexican migration, 2007

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

American Sociological Association

California Sociological Association

National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies

Pacific Sociological Association

The library quad

Guy West Bridge

Mariposa Hall

University Union