Tensions In The U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
From Border Security To Local Insecurity
Published on 11. September 2025
208 pages
978-1-040-42729-3 (ISBN)
Description
Over the last 30 years, the U.S. government has reinforced security around its borderlands with Mexico continuously, with migration becoming a top political issue. But what does this mean for the residents whose lives straddle the border? This book investigates the disconnect between what border security represents for state and non-state actors and the social, economic, and cultural realities of the borderlanders living in U.S.-Mexico border towns.
Focusing on the sister cities of Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Sonora, this book classifies borderlanders into four categories and highlights the ways in which border security actually creates disruptions in historical cross-border interactions and forms of economic and human insecurity. This book paints a rich picture of transborder connectedness, which contrasts starkly with the rhetoric of fear and invasion used by state and non-state actors. Its findings will be of interest to researchers and students working on border studies, international relations, geography, and security studies.
Focusing on the sister cities of Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Sonora, this book classifies borderlanders into four categories and highlights the ways in which border security actually creates disruptions in historical cross-border interactions and forms of economic and human insecurity. This book paints a rich picture of transborder connectedness, which contrasts starkly with the rhetoric of fear and invasion used by state and non-state actors. Its findings will be of interest to researchers and students working on border studies, international relations, geography, and security studies.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
9 Line drawings, black and white; 12 Halftones, black and white; 21 Illustrations, black and white
File size
10,51 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-42729-3 (9781040427293)
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
09/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€205.40
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Clea Fortune is Associate Professor at the University Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France. She is a member of the Center for Research on the English-Speaking World (CREW EA4399) and the Institut des Langues et Cultures d'Europe, Amerique, Afrique, Asie et Australie (ILCEA4). Her research examines border issues, security policies, and transnational relations, with a particular focus on the dynamics of the U.S.-Mexico border region. She has contributed to several publications and has co-authored works such as Les Etats-Unis et l'Amerique latine, de Franklin Delano Roosevelt a Barack Obama, 1933-2017, which explores U.S.-Latin American relations during that period. She also appears in the French and Swiss media to discuss issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Content
Introduction Douglas/Agua Prieta: a History PART 1. Who defines security? The US government and non-state actors 1. The securitization of immigration: a rhetoric built around myths 2. The construction of walls as a standard response to insecurity 3. The rise of non-state actors along the U.S.-Mexico border shaping the narrative around national security PART 2. The lived realities of border residents 4. Anglo American borderlanders 5. Mexican American borderlanders 6. Mexican borderlanders 7. Migrants PART 3. The paradoxes of border enforcement: from federal security to local insecurity 8. Disruption of cross-border mobility in an era of border security 9. The economic costs of border security on small border towns 10. The migratory journey: fleeing violence, facing violence. How US and Mexican state violence leads to human insecurity Conclusion
