Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

by Oscar J. Martinez

While the U.S.-Mexico borderlands resemble border regions in other parts of the world, nowhere else do so many millions of people from two dissimilar nations live in such close proximity and interact with each other so intensely. Borderlanders are singular in their history, outlook, and behavior, and their lifestyle deviates from the norms of central Mexico and the interior United States; yet these Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Anglo-Americans also differ among themselves, and within each group may be found cross-border consumers, commuters, and people who are inclined or disinclined to embrace both cultures. Based on firsthand interviews with individuals from all walks of life, Border People presents case histories of transnational interaction and transculturation, and addresses the themes of cross-border migration, interdependence, labor, border management, ethnic confrontation, cultural fusion, and social activism. Here migrants and workers, functionaries and activists, and "mixers" who have crossed cultural boundaries recall events in their lives related to life on the border. Their stories show how their lives have been shaped by the borderlands milieu and how they have responded to the situations they have faced. Border People shows that these borderlanders live in a unique human environment shaped by physical distance from central areas and constant exposure to transnational processes. The oral histories contained here reveal, to a degree that no scholarly analysis can, that borderlanders are indeed people, each with his or her own individual perspective, hopes, and dreams.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historian Oscar Martinez has a keen understanding of the geographic reality of these borderlands. I had the privilege of knowing him when I lived in the borderlands myself -- first in Tucson, Arizona and later in Pharr, Texas. It was in Tucson that Dr. Martinez was both on the faculty of the University of Arizona -- though I did not take any of his courses -- and a fellow member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church.

It was from this book that I learned to think of the borderlands as a third entity. In that band stretching about 100 miles north and south of the international border is a place that is legally bifurcated but culturally intertwined. The northern half of the borderlands zone is not exactly the United States, nor is the southern half exactly Mexico.

My only disappointment in the book is that it does not address the archipelago of mostly part-time retirement communities that emerge each winter in southern Arizona and Texas. The peculiar geography of the winter visitors or "snowbirds" would help to complete the cultural tapestry that Martinez describes.

Together they are a third nation, and this book remains a fine introduction to it, though outside forces have led to important changes since its publication.

[Ginny Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have lived on the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez border for over 30 years and have many friends in both countries. I find Dr. Martinez' interpretations very helpful in my day-to-day professional activities, especially in binational relations. I understand that, apart from academics, other groups such as health professionals and clergy use this book for their borderwide training. I recommend this book to anyone who really wants to understand the border.

[Angela S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly work, this book is thick and seems to only serve the purpose of academics wanting to know more about the economic and political details of the U.S./Mexico borderlands. Pleasure reading it is not - the only reason I gave it three stars is because it served to moderately further my research - but only a little.