Residents counter national and international influences to build shelter and incomes, albeit meager.
But the political machinery of both the U.S. and Mexico constrains the ability of these quintessential free traders to build political communities and organize around self-sufficient work and housing in visible ways. Experiences at the border, along a central gateway for capital, job, and labor movements, offer insights to readers as the globalized economy spreads and engulfs the heartlands of both the U.S. and Mexico. People's everyday victories in countering petty regulations can counter or feed the grand global hegemonies. Kathleen Staudt is Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas, El Paso. All Rights Reserved.