Latinos in Kansas City: The Political Economy of Placemaking

Abstract

This article critically reviews the literature on the relationship between global capitalist accumulation and placemaking and community building of Latinos in Kansas City. We use the social structure of accumulation (SSA) framework to analyze connections between these bodies of scholarship to provide a socio-spatial history of Latinos in Kansas City. We identify three SSAs: a monopolistic SSA (1870s–1930s), a Keynesian SSA (1940s–1970s), and a neoliberal SSA (1980s–present). Our findings show the impacts of each SSA on Latino communities in Kansas City. They also show the agency, flexibility, and resilience of these communities as they faced daunting challenges.