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Figures of the Future: Latino Civil Rights and the Politics of Demographic Change\xa0(Princeton UP, 2021)\xa0examines the \u201ccontemporary population politics of national Latino civil rights advocacy.\u201d The book challenges readers to\xa0generally\xa0understand democratic projections as problematic, political, and manufactured -- and\xa0specifically\xa0consider the case of how prominent Latino civil rights groups used such projections during the Obama and Trump administrations to \u201caccelerate the\xa0when\xa0of Latino political power.\u201d Groups like UnidosUS, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Voto Latino believed that they could mobilize demographic data about the growing Latino population to increase political recognition and respect -- hoping to unify and inspire. But\xa0Figures of the Future\xa0urges us to be attentive to the manner in which projected demographics can be \u201cobjects of aspiration\u201d but also weaponized and sources of frustration. Deploying three main sources of data (participation observation, interviewing, and the collection of primary material) Dr. Michael Rodr\xedguez-Mu\xf1iz asks us to see that \u201cit is politics -- not demography -- that governs what we think and feel about ethnoracial demographic change.\u201d We don\u2019t need better data -- we need a more critical and vigilant eye to the political phenomenon.\nDr. Michael Rodr\xedguez-Mu\xf1iz\xa0is an assistant professor of sociology and Latina/Latino studies at Northwestern University.\nDaniella Campos assisted with and helped inspire this podcast.\nSusan Liebell\xa0is Dirk Warren '50 Professor of Political Science at Saint Joseph\u2019s University in Philadelphia.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law