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Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas: Autonomy in the Spaces of Neoliberal Neglect
Near Tijuana, Baja California, the autonomous community of Maclovio Rojas demonstrates what is possible for urban place-based political movements. More than a community, Maclovio Rojas is a women-led social movement that works for economic and political autonomy to address issues of health, education, housing, nutrition, and security.
Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas tells the story of the community’s struggle to carve out space for survival and thriving in the shadows of the U.S.-Mexico geopolitical border. This ethnography by Michelle Téllez demonstrates the state’s neglect in providing social services and local infrastructure. This neglect exacerbates the structural violence endemic to the border region—a continuation of colonial systems of power on the urban, rural, and racialized poor. Téllez shows that in creating the community of Maclovio Rojas, residents have challenged prescriptive notions of nation and belonging. Through women’s active participation and leadership, a women’s political subjectivity has emerged—Maclovianas. These border women both contest and invoke their citizenship as they struggle to have their land rights recognized, and they transform traditional political roles into that of agency and responsibility.
This book highlights the U.S.-Mexico borderlands as a space of resistance, conviviality, agency, and creative community building where transformative politics can take place. It shows hope, struggle, and possibility in the context of gendered violences of racial capitalism on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas tells the story of the community’s struggle to carve out space for survival and thriving in the shadows of the U.S.-Mexico geopolitical border. This ethnography by Michelle Téllez demonstrates the state’s neglect in providing social services and local infrastructure. This neglect exacerbates the structural violence endemic to the border region—a continuation of colonial systems of power on the urban, rural, and racialized poor. Téllez shows that in creating the community of Maclovio Rojas, residents have challenged prescriptive notions of nation and belonging. Through women’s active participation and leadership, a women’s political subjectivity has emerged—Maclovianas. These border women both contest and invoke their citizenship as they struggle to have their land rights recognized, and they transform traditional political roles into that of agency and responsibility.
This book highlights the U.S.-Mexico borderlands as a space of resistance, conviviality, agency, and creative community building where transformative politics can take place. It shows hope, struggle, and possibility in the context of gendered violences of racial capitalism on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border.
208 pages, Paperback
Published October 12, 2021
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June 23, 2025
Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas shows how, even under neoliberalism, our gente can build autonomous spaces rooted in struggle and comunidad. Maclovio Rojas is a powerful example of mujeres leading with courage and vision — not just for survival, but for collective dignity.
These compañeras built something real and lasting, showing that creating a just world takes sacrifice, discipline, and deep love for our people. In a time when many feel hopeless, their resistance offers us fuerza — not as inspiration alone, but as a lesson in what is possible when we organize from below.
Their story isn’t about charity or reform — it’s about self-determination. It’s a call to continue the lucha in our own barrios, with that same revolutionary spirit.
These compañeras built something real and lasting, showing that creating a just world takes sacrifice, discipline, and deep love for our people. In a time when many feel hopeless, their resistance offers us fuerza — not as inspiration alone, but as a lesson in what is possible when we organize from below.
Their story isn’t about charity or reform — it’s about self-determination. It’s a call to continue the lucha in our own barrios, with that same revolutionary spirit.
Displaying 1 of 1 review