The Social Geographies of Mexico
Five Contemporary Case Studies of Society and Space
1st Edition
Published on 6. August 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
214 pages
978-1-4625-3386-2 (ISBN)
Description
Examining the links between society, space, and place, this unique text introduces students to the ecological and cultural richness of Mexico and the diversity, tenacity, and resilience of its people. David M. Walker presents compelling ethnographic case studies of Mexico City's historic center and the adjacent Tepito neighborhood; life in the border city of Tijuana; and urban Mexican garbage networks. Cases also explore Afromexican identity in the Costa Chica of Guerrero and Oaxaca, as well as the Indigeneous Zoque people's stewardship of the remote Chimalapas region. Readers are immersed in the stories of real individuals and their livelihood strategies; natural and built environments; values and faith practices; leisure activities; foodways; involvements in local to global cultural, political, and economic processes; and more. Instructive features include topical vignettes, discussion questions, and suggested readings and online resources related to each case.
Reviews / Votes
"The Social Geographies of Mexico is one of those rare books that manages to be both deeply thoughtful and highly readable. Through vivid case studies--from Tepito and Tijuana to the Costa Chica and Los Chimalapas--Walker brings to life the layered connections between people, place, identity, and power. The book doesn't just teach students about Mexico; it teaches them how to think geographically, socially, and critically. I would absolutely recommend this text for undergraduate or graduate courses in geography, Latin American studies, anthropology, and urban studies. It invites meaningful conversations and offers new ways to understand inequality, resistance, and everyday life in contemporary Mexico. With its clear structure, engaging vignettes, and attention to theory and lived experience, this book is an invaluable resource for teaching and learning."--Bertha A. Bermudez Tapia, PhD, Department of Sociology, New Mexico State University"The rich empirical case studies in this useful book provide insights into the relationships between politics, economic change, and social differences in different Mexican locales. I will recommend this book to upper-level undergraduates and graduate students planning on doing field research in Mexico, both to learn about the country and as an example of how to produce ethnographic accounts that incorporate observation and interviews."--Derek A. Smith, PhD, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
"This text provides compelling points of entry for the study of social and spatial dynamics of contemporary life in Mexico. Unique for its combined geographic and thematic focus, the book is especially well suited to introductory courses. Walker's case studies encourage collective engagement, including through classroom-friendly features like discussion questions. More experienced readers in geography or interdisciplinary studies of Mexico will also find the book stimulating, as Walker's place-specific case studies reflect more generalized political-economic and cultural-political transformations of Mexico. Selected chapters can be used on their own (for readers thematically focused on urban dynamics, or on regional processes of racialization, for example), but the book also rewards being read from beginning to end."--Nicholas Jon Crane, PhD, School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International Studies, University of Wyoming
"This compelling and timely text explores how identity and geography shape one another across Mexico's diverse landscapes. Through richly detailed case studies and a mix of ethnographic and archival methods, Walker unpacks the complex interrelations of society, space, and place. From Indigenous histories to neoliberal transformations, this book captures the local cultural and social responses to global structural forces. A valuable resource for students and scholars alike, it offers a nuanced introduction to Mexico's geography, politics, and identity through the critical lens of social geography."--Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, PhD, Dean and Chief Administrative Officer, and Professor of History and Latino Studies, University of Connecticut-Hartford-
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Guilford Publications
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 152 mm
Width: 229 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
372 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4625-3386-2 (9781462533862)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2025
1st Edition
Guilford Press
€69.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
06/2025
The Guilford Press
€43.99
Available for download
Person
David M. Walker, PhD, is Professor of Geography at the College of Southern Maryland. His international research centers on neoliberal urban governance, nongovernmental organizations, economic policies, and urban change in Oaxaca, Mexico City, and Tijuana. In the United States, Dr. Walker analyzes immigrant urban revitalization of first-tier suburban neighborhoods, contrasted with formal government revitalization planning practices. He is a lifelong traveler who has lived for long periods in Mexico and Spain.
Content
1. Introduction
- Chapter Outline
- Why Study Mexico?
- Social Relations, Society, and Space: What Is Social Geography?
- Indigenous Mexico
- Indigenous Civilizations
- Indigenous Technology
- Mestizaje
- Indigenous Identity and Mestizaje
- 20th- and 21st-Century Mexico
- La Dictadura Perfecta
- Shifts from PRI Economics to Neoliberalism
- Zapatismo
- Multicultural Mexico?
- Methods and Book Online
- Chapter 2: Shrines of the Times: The Social Geographies of Contested Space in Tepito and the Historic Center of Mexico City
- Chapter 3: Identity and Place: The Social Geographies in the Costa Chica of Guerrero and Oaxaca
- Chapter 4: The Social Geographies of Tijuana: Urbanization at the U.S.-Mexico Border
- Chapter 5: In the Dumps: The Social Geographies of Trash
- Chapter 6: Zoque Indigenous-Produced Space: Social Geographies of Los Chimalapas
- Who Is This Book For?
- How to Use this Book
- Suggested Readings
2. Shrines of the Times: The Social Geographies of Contested Space in Tepito and the Historic Center of Mexico City
- Chapter Outline
- A Brief History of Mexico City
- What Is La Santa Muerte?
- Santa Muerte Worshippers in the Tepito Neighborhood
- Rapid Urbanization and Economic Shifts from ISI to Neoliberalism
- The Implosion of ISI
- Vignette: Migration, Emigration, and Neoliberalism
- The Production of the Informal Economy
- Coping with Neoliberalism
- Saving the Historic Center? But from Whom and for Whom? El Programa de Rescate del Centro Historico
- The Appropriation or Rebranding of Tepito
- The Appropriation of Urban Space through Street Vending, Worship, and Food: Dia de los Muertos in Tepito at Number 12 Alfareria Street
- Neoliberal Success?
- Conclusion
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Readings
3. Identity and Place: The Social Geographies in the Costa Chica of Guerrero and Oaxaca
- Singing the National Anthem in Mexico City
- Where Is the Costa Chica Today?
- Regions in Oaxaca and Guerrero
- Africans in Mexico
- Vignette: Geography Matters: Human-Environment-Diasporic Interactions and Environmental Determinism
- Afromexicanos of La Costa Chica: A Legendary History
- Mestizaje-Raza Cosmica
- Identity and Regions
- Indigeneity and the Emergent Afromexicano Civil Society
- From Indigenous Autonomy to Black Recognition
- Fissures between Place and Identity
- Does Getting Counted Count? Economic and Social Development in the Costa Chica
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Readings
4. The Social Geographies of Tijuana: Urbanization at the U.S.-Mexico Border
- Migration, Irregular Settlements and Neighborhood Formation
- Introduction
- Where Is Tijuana?
- Tijuana's Topography and Its Impacts on the Environment
- A City Shaped from Both Sides
- Vice Tourism and Urban Expansion
- Social Geographies of Housing in Tijuana: Irregular Settlements
- PRONAF and Geographies of Uneven Urbanization
- Border City Morphology
- The Border Industrialization Program (BIP) and Urbanization
- A Cosmopolitan Mexican City: Demographics and Economic Diversification
- Tijuanenses Embody the Social Geographies of Music and Gastronomy
- Tijuana Music
- Tijuana Gastronomy
- The Mexican Dream in Tijuana?
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Readings
5. In the Dumps: The Social Geographies of Trash
- Waiting on the Trash Man
- Chapter Outline
- Who Are the Pepenadores?
- Demographics and Garbage
- Conceptualizing the Value of Garbage
- A Day in the Life of Mexico City Garbage
- Vignette: The Temporal-Social Construction of Value
- Pepenador Efficiency, the Informal Economy, and the Social Structure of Urban Mexico
- Pepenadores, Caciques--Client Patron Relations, and the Social Structure of Urban Mexico
- The Neoliberalization of Garbage
- Environmental Activism and the Closing of Bordo-Poniente Landfill
- The Professionalization of Caciqusmo: la Confederacion Nacional de Industriales de Metales y Recicladores (CONIMER)
- Alpuyeca Does Not Want Mexico City Trash
- Can La Pepena Be Included in Mexico City's Waste Management Transformation?
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Reading
6. Zoque Indigenous-Produced Space: Social Geographies of Los Chimalapas
- Introduction
- The Second Most Remote Region in All of Mexico
- Reverse Settler Colonialism
- State Government Structure, Customs and Traditions, and Communal Property Communities in Los Chimalapas
- Structures in Los Chimalapas
- Geography, Resources, and Politics in Los Chimalapas
- Confrontation and Cooptation in Los Chimalapas
- The Conflation of Nature and Society in Los Chimalapas
- Ethnospatial Politics
- Conclusion
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Resource
- Chapter Outline
- Why Study Mexico?
- Social Relations, Society, and Space: What Is Social Geography?
- Indigenous Mexico
- Indigenous Civilizations
- Indigenous Technology
- Mestizaje
- Indigenous Identity and Mestizaje
- 20th- and 21st-Century Mexico
- La Dictadura Perfecta
- Shifts from PRI Economics to Neoliberalism
- Zapatismo
- Multicultural Mexico?
- Methods and Book Online
- Chapter 2: Shrines of the Times: The Social Geographies of Contested Space in Tepito and the Historic Center of Mexico City
- Chapter 3: Identity and Place: The Social Geographies in the Costa Chica of Guerrero and Oaxaca
- Chapter 4: The Social Geographies of Tijuana: Urbanization at the U.S.-Mexico Border
- Chapter 5: In the Dumps: The Social Geographies of Trash
- Chapter 6: Zoque Indigenous-Produced Space: Social Geographies of Los Chimalapas
- Who Is This Book For?
- How to Use this Book
- Suggested Readings
2. Shrines of the Times: The Social Geographies of Contested Space in Tepito and the Historic Center of Mexico City
- Chapter Outline
- A Brief History of Mexico City
- What Is La Santa Muerte?
- Santa Muerte Worshippers in the Tepito Neighborhood
- Rapid Urbanization and Economic Shifts from ISI to Neoliberalism
- The Implosion of ISI
- Vignette: Migration, Emigration, and Neoliberalism
- The Production of the Informal Economy
- Coping with Neoliberalism
- Saving the Historic Center? But from Whom and for Whom? El Programa de Rescate del Centro Historico
- The Appropriation or Rebranding of Tepito
- The Appropriation of Urban Space through Street Vending, Worship, and Food: Dia de los Muertos in Tepito at Number 12 Alfareria Street
- Neoliberal Success?
- Conclusion
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Readings
3. Identity and Place: The Social Geographies in the Costa Chica of Guerrero and Oaxaca
- Singing the National Anthem in Mexico City
- Where Is the Costa Chica Today?
- Regions in Oaxaca and Guerrero
- Africans in Mexico
- Vignette: Geography Matters: Human-Environment-Diasporic Interactions and Environmental Determinism
- Afromexicanos of La Costa Chica: A Legendary History
- Mestizaje-Raza Cosmica
- Identity and Regions
- Indigeneity and the Emergent Afromexicano Civil Society
- From Indigenous Autonomy to Black Recognition
- Fissures between Place and Identity
- Does Getting Counted Count? Economic and Social Development in the Costa Chica
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Readings
4. The Social Geographies of Tijuana: Urbanization at the U.S.-Mexico Border
- Migration, Irregular Settlements and Neighborhood Formation
- Introduction
- Where Is Tijuana?
- Tijuana's Topography and Its Impacts on the Environment
- A City Shaped from Both Sides
- Vice Tourism and Urban Expansion
- Social Geographies of Housing in Tijuana: Irregular Settlements
- PRONAF and Geographies of Uneven Urbanization
- Border City Morphology
- The Border Industrialization Program (BIP) and Urbanization
- A Cosmopolitan Mexican City: Demographics and Economic Diversification
- Tijuanenses Embody the Social Geographies of Music and Gastronomy
- Tijuana Music
- Tijuana Gastronomy
- The Mexican Dream in Tijuana?
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Readings
5. In the Dumps: The Social Geographies of Trash
- Waiting on the Trash Man
- Chapter Outline
- Who Are the Pepenadores?
- Demographics and Garbage
- Conceptualizing the Value of Garbage
- A Day in the Life of Mexico City Garbage
- Vignette: The Temporal-Social Construction of Value
- Pepenador Efficiency, the Informal Economy, and the Social Structure of Urban Mexico
- Pepenadores, Caciques--Client Patron Relations, and the Social Structure of Urban Mexico
- The Neoliberalization of Garbage
- Environmental Activism and the Closing of Bordo-Poniente Landfill
- The Professionalization of Caciqusmo: la Confederacion Nacional de Industriales de Metales y Recicladores (CONIMER)
- Alpuyeca Does Not Want Mexico City Trash
- Can La Pepena Be Included in Mexico City's Waste Management Transformation?
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Reading
6. Zoque Indigenous-Produced Space: Social Geographies of Los Chimalapas
- Introduction
- The Second Most Remote Region in All of Mexico
- Reverse Settler Colonialism
- State Government Structure, Customs and Traditions, and Communal Property Communities in Los Chimalapas
- Structures in Los Chimalapas
- Geography, Resources, and Politics in Los Chimalapas
- Confrontation and Cooptation in Los Chimalapas
- The Conflation of Nature and Society in Los Chimalapas
- Ethnospatial Politics
- Conclusion
- Discussion Questions
- Suggested Resource