This updated edition of the classic study examines life on the Texas-Mexico border, including the effects of NAFTA, drug violence, and immigration crises.Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados offers an authoritative portrait of the people of the South Texas/Northern Mexico borderlands. First published in 1999, the book is now extensively revised and updated to cover developments since 2000, including undocumented immigration, the drug wars, race relations, growing s...

Imagined Borders/Lived Ambiguity: Intersections of Repression and Resistance examines the theoretical versatility of the concept of “borders.” The impulse to categorize, while present from antiquity in Western culture, has increased in intensity since the advent of the modern age with its corresponding political rise in the ideology of the sovereign nation-state. While immigration is the common mental image Westerners have when discussing borders, immigration is only the tip of the iceberg...

Much has been debated about the presence of undocumented workers along the South Texas border, but these debates often overlook the more complete dimension: the region’s longstanding, undocumented economies as a whole. Borderlands commerce that evades government scrutiny can be categorized into informal economies (the unreported exchange of legal goods and services) or underground economies (criminal economic activities that, obviously, occur without government oversight). Examining long-t...

The Valley of South Texas is a region of puzzling contradictions. Despite a booming economy fueled by free trade and rapid population growth, the Valley typically experiences high unemployment and low per capita income. The region has the highest rate of drug seizures in the United States, yet its violent crime rate is well below national and state averages. The Valley's colonias are home to the poorest residents in the nation, but their rates of home ownership and intact two-pare...

A fresh and fearless collection of short fiction, poetry and graphic fiction for today's middle-grade readers.In this timely, thought-provoking, funny and heartbreaking collection, ten acclaimed BIPOC authors from across Canada explore the theme and concept of home.From awkward family dinners, to life on the rez, to moving to a new town, each of these stories provides a unique perspective on the theme of belonging through characters tasked with navigating a...

Black Denim Lit, v1 #3 April, 2014 edited by Christopher T. Garry features seven new short stories. All the authors expand significantly on their print work, creating narratives that are variously dark, cynical, inspiring, disturbing, longing or irreverent. Stories include: •Our Immortal Souls by Phil Richardson (A couple work out the details of how to comply with the negative population growth policies.) •Tailing the Blond Satan by Oscar Windsor-Smith (Officer Winston Morgan, a strapping ...