Border Reader (PDF)

The Border Reader brings together canonical and cutting-edge humanities and social science scholarship on the US-Mexico border region. Spotlighting the vibrancy of border studies from the field's emergence to its enduring significance, the essays mobilize feminist, queer, and critical ethnic studies perspectives to theorize the border as a site of epistemic rupture and knowledge production. The chapters speak to how borders exist as regions where people and nation-states negotiate power, citizenship, and questions of empire. Among other topics, these essays examine the lived experiences of the diverse undocumented people who move through and live in the border region; trace the gendered and sexualized experiences of the border; show how the US-Mexico border has become a site of illegality where immigrant bodies become racialized and excluded; and imagine anti- and post-border futures. Foregrounding the interplay of scholarly inquiry and political urgency stemming from the borderlands, The Border Reader presents a unique cross section of critical interventions on the region.Contributors. Leisy J. Abrego, Gloria E. Anzaldua, Martha Balaguera, Lionel Cantu, Leo R. Chavez, Raul Fernandez, Rosa-Linda Fregoso, Roberto G. Gonzales, Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Ramon Gutierrez, Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Jose E. Limon, Mireya Loza, Alejandro Lugo, Eithne Luibheid, Martha Menchaca, Cecilia Menjivar, Natalia Molina, Fiamma Montezemolo, Americo Paredes, Nestor Rodriguez, Renato Rosaldo, Gilberto Rosas, Maria Josefina Saldana-Portillo, Sonia Saldivar-Hull, Alicia Schmidt Camacho, Sayak Valencia Triana, Carlos G. Velez-Ibanez, Patricia Zavella