Walls and Borders: The Shifting U.S.–Mexico Relationship and Transborder Communities

  • Lynn Stephen Universidad de Oregon - Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies
Keywords: Transborder, Immigration, Race, Place, Mexico-U.S

Abstract

By necessity, this article embeds a discussion of contemporary transborder communities —communities spread out in multiple locations in the U.S. and Mexico— in the history of U.S.-Mexico during the 19th and 20th centuries. The flexibility of the U.S.-Mexico border through time and as experienced by those who carry it metaphorically with them wherever they are suggests that rather than using concepts such as “the wall” to establish limits and difference that we focus on the concept of multiple borders. I will argue that the concept of “transborder” which can include borders of coloniality, ethnicity, race, class, gender, nation, and region can help us to illuminate U.S.-Mexico relationships through time and to understand why the idea of a “wall” is so culturally and

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Author Biography

Lynn Stephen, Universidad de Oregon - Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies
Profesora Distinguida de Antropología, Directora del Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, Universidad de Oregon.
Published
2011-07-01
How to Cite
Stephen, L. (2011). Walls and Borders: The Shifting U.S.–Mexico Relationship and Transborder Communities. Cuadernos De antropología Social, (33), 7-38. https://doi.org/10.34096/cas.i33.1415
Section
Espacio Abierto - Artículos Originales