Rasquachismo

Rasquachismo (also known as rascuachismo or rasquache/rascuache style) is a theory developed by Chicano scholar Tomás Ybarra-Frausto to describe "a perspective of the oppressed, a view from los de abajo" in working class Chicano communities that uses elements of "hybridization, juxtaposition and integration" as a means of empowerment and resistance. Rasquachismo is commonly used to describe the aesthetics present in working class Chicano art and Mexican art movements that "make the most from the least." It has been described as a worldview, the "view of the oppressed, which combines inventiveness with a survivalist attitude." Artists often represent experiences of their own life in the "barrio" or the experiences of being Mexican and Chicano. This art movement has also been defined by artists and scholar Amalia Mesa-Bains "as a survivalist irreverence ('based on sustaining elements of Mexican tradition and lived encounters in a hostile environment') that functioned as a vehicle of cultural continuity."

Rasquachismo is rooted in the older term rasquache, which is the English form of the Spanish term rascuache, of Nahuatl origin. While the term was widely used as a classist slur, it has been reclaimed to highlight the creativity and uniqueness in Chicano and Mexican working-class communities. Beyond being simply frugal, the rasquache philosophy also involves inventing new uses for conventional objects. This may mean giving a new function to something that would conventionally be considered broken or otherwise 'useless.'