Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border (by Rachel St. John)

6 Fevereiro 2019, 08:00 • Margarida Vale de Gato

We discussed Rachel St. John’s history, Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border. Class discussion focused on the question, what is a border intended todo? Answers included: To establish sovereignty—i.e., to assert that the nation-state controls its own territory; to establish citizens, to police non-citizens; For customs purposes. These are a mix of abstract and material things, experienced at different levels and at varying levels of abstraction. The US-Mexico border is a mixture of material reality and metaphor.