Search

This paper aims to describe the situations of vulnerability to the possibility of becoming human trafficking victims for both mobile and resident populations in the municipality of Tapachula, Chiapas during October 2018 and July 2019, period in which the first caravans arrived in the border between Tapachula, Mexico and Tecun Uman, Guatemala. This paper is the result of a qualitative research approach that examines the category of vulnerability and the legal framework for human trafficking in Mexico, and it is based on field observation records in institutions dedicated to the protection of migrants and victims of gender-based violence, as well as in interviews with key informants in Chiapas and Mexico City. The main conclusion of this work is that the juncture resulting from the response of the Mexican government to the caravans, the austerity policy enforced by the Mexican government, and the problems derived from an institutional design that operates without adherence to the legal framework and with overwhelmed capacity, led to situations of unprecedented or exacerbated vulnerability for these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the strategies of cross-border cooperation that the Yoeme community (also called "Yaquis") in Sonora, Mexico, carries out with the support of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Tucson, Arizona, United States, for the strengthening of their autonomous rights. This paper employs an interdisciplinary methodology, using observation, interviews, and documentary analysis techniques. The results reveal a cross-border collaboration of the Yoeme group in the form of legal, cultural, and economic alliances that have allowed them to create new international spaces to demand justice and strengthen their collective ties. It is concluded that such collaboration must be based on their traditional and cultural normative framework supported by international human rights instruments to strengthen their autonomous rights of territory and water. The main limitation was the restricted access to Yaqui groups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public issues regarding water are defined based on aspects of ownership and institutional responsibility, which has repercussions on their ability to implement effective actions for water resource management. The objective of this paper is to analyze government actions regarding urban water management and explain how they influence its institutional capacity. The methodology employed involved the use of institutional ethnography, which revealed the interactions between water resource management agencies and the priority action plans of governments. The findings recognize that the lack of institutional capacity is influenced by the particular interests of decision-makers who limit the political continuity of previous administrations. It is concluded that each administration addresses public issues according to their own interests, which may not always align with the needs and priorities of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to verify if the urban population of the municipalities of the northern border of Mexico has higher incomes than those of other municipalities in the country, while suffering worse living conditions; that is what some authors have called "border development paradox". To verify this issue, proportions were compared based on multidimensional poverty data from Coneval for the period 2008-2020, and more municipalities and population were considered than in any previous research. The results show that urban residents of the northern border have higher incomes, but also better access to services and less social deprivation. These results--which contradict some previous research, but confirm others--are maintained throughout the entire period analyzed and with different territorial groups. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no evidence of said paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the interrelation between nocturnity, youths, and systemic violence. Based on the theory of conceived and inhabited space, ethnographic work, and on-site exploration, a reconstruction of urban imaginaries "of the border" and "of the night" is presented, as well as the narratives generated by Tijuana's young residents. Thus, a distinction between the night (noctis) and nocturnity (noctem) is exposed, along with some key elements that make up the accessibility, experience, and participation of young people in Tijuana nights' nocturnity in recreational, inequality, transgression, and violence contexts. The results allow us to perceive nocturnity as a socially constructed space, complex and dynamic, with diffuse and rigid borders, that needs a comprehensive public policy that seeks the inclusion of the youth and the progressive decrease of the inequalities that affect them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the population growth in Tijuana during the 1920s when the town had the highest growth rates in its history. We draw a demographic, territorial, and migratory profile using censuses and ecclesiastical sources, although both have limitations: the censuses, due to the changes in the municipal organization and the ecclesiastical because they do not cover the entire decade. However, both allow us to observe that this phenomenon was the result of migratory processes, explained by the border condition and Prohibition established in the United States. The census sources show that the phenomenon was not widespread along the border and that a workingage male population predominated in Tijuana's service sector. The parish records show that the main places of origin of the migration to Tijuana were the entities of the Mexican Northwest and West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the transnational cultural experiences of a Cantonese migrant while border crossing the United States and Mexico. Specifically, we explore his experiences while residing in transnational spaces [Mexico, the United States, and Canton (Guangzhou)]. Fieldwork including participant observation and qualitative data were collected through ethnographic interviews carried out during the period 2014-2016, at a Chinese food restaurant in Puebla, Mexico. Our goal is to understand the border crossing experience as a confluence of activities, which contribute to the construction of epistemologies from below and the understanding of transnationalism from a cultural approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies the Trump administration's violent practices toward Central American and Mexican asylum-seeking families as a defensive response to the legal framework that grants them this protection tool in their relationship with the State. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation with migrant families in Tijuana during 2017-2020, it is concluded that the various measures implemented sought to limit asylum as a right and to configure an illegal subject based on suspicion, criminalization, and trauma. In this way, it was sought to reverse the character of legality that protects asylum seekers and rebuild a dominant vertical relationship of racialized subjection. The analysis seeks to contribute to migration studies by understanding the tension between the legality of asylum and the Trump administration's actions to disrupt this framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper synthesizes the micro-history of the border wall, highlighting the Tijuana-San Diego area in the period 1991-2021 in relation to legislation, border surveillance, and deportations. The objective is to analyze its evolution and impact as an axis of border control and as a modeling factor for the surveillance strategy of the border with Mexico. From a qualitative approach and based on ethnographic experience, a discourse analysis oriented by fieldwork information is made. This thematic intersection and intertwining of methods and techniques is unprecedented. After reviewing the main events, former presidents Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama were more decisive than Trump. Border walls only work in conjunction with the Border Patrol, ICE and deportations or the Southwest Border Wall System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests considering the cosmo-political proposal made by some authors as a possible analytical framework for the study of socio-environmental conflicts involving indigenous peoples. By exploring ethnographic examples of western and northern Mexico, this article shows how the territoriality inhabited by indigenous peoples should be conceived in relational terms, and its component elements cannot be thought of as exploitable resources, the paper also described how the political demands of indigenous peoples are based on the network their embedded relationships whith humans, deities, ancestors, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the formulation of the decision agenda of "Río Sonora" Trust (FRS)'s Technical Committee (TC), established in 2014 to compensate for the damage caused by Buenavista del Cobre Company's copper leach spill in the Sonora River Basin. The Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) (Kingdon, 2014) was used to analyze the participation and criteria for technical feasibility and the anticipation of future limitations of the alternatives discussed by the FRS' Technical Committee. The analysis showed that the approved alternatives were formulated and implemented by hidden participants and characterized by their high visibility, low compliance with the technical feasibility criteria, and long-term costs aversion. The results contribute to the understanding of the MSA virtues for the analysis of the remediation of environmental disasters agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to calculate and analyze the human capital returns of micro-enterprises on Mexico's northern border by examining the education levels of the micro-entrepreneurs in charge of the production unit. Analyzing data from the National Survey of Occupation and Employment from 2010 to 2019, we estimated econometric cross-section models based on Mincer equations. The results suggest that elementary education is not sufficient to achieve high monetary income in micro-enterprises, even its rates are negative, generating losses systematically. The turning point starts in high school, where positive rates are beginning to be observed. However, it highlights that undergraduate and postgraduate education doubles their positive returns, although the number of business owners with this education level is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to make an initial approach to both the human security paradigm and the issues of border security and migration at the northern Mexican border. The approach is conceptual and arises from Geography for peace, a perspective that articulates the approaches of critical geography (political geography from political economy and geographical historical materialism), human rights, and peace studies and conflicts transformation. The conclusions focus on proposing a paradigm shift in border security, moving from a national security approach focused on the State, to one focused on people and their rights, and is guided by the principle of shared responsibility. Despite being an initial approach, the text seeks to promote a paradigm shift, to in future work, provide concrete strategies and lines of action that contribute to materialize the human security approach at the borders of Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show the sociocultural adaptation strategy of a group of mestizo migrants from Chiapas residing in "Buenavistita," Laurel, Maryland, U.S. The methodology is qualitative, based on interviews and participant observation. The findings allow us to argue that the migratory experience forces them to loosen their identity boundaries inward the ethnic group to reconstitute themselves, survive away, and maintain their Mexican mestizo status. Resulting in the formation of territorial enclaves where they identified against those who label them as illegal, this being the way to defend themselves in a racialized society. This work contributes empirically to migration studies with the case of Chiapanecos mestizos. Although we conclude that the enclave is for them a refuge area, little can be said about other experiences of migrants from Chiapas around ethnicity and the blend of cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation has multiple definitions, to have a reference conceptual framework we understand it as the reduction of vulnerability to climate variability. This paper's objective was to assess the adaptive capacity and response to climate variability in three rural communities at Sierra de San Pedro Martir National Park. We applied discourse analysis and non-participatory observation. As for data collecting, we carried out structured interviews during community workshops and semi-structured ones to external stakeholders. Results show that communities recognized droughts as the most important climate phenomenon, given that it impacts their economic activities and daily life alike. But inhabitants did not associate water availability to environmental services provided by the National Park. Our main contribution was modifying the methodological tool. Conclusions indicate that adaptive responses are associated with social characteristics of the local population and their strategies diversity. The public institutions' role in rural adaptation was not addressed in-depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are frequently an immigrant's primary contact for support and service provision following deportation. We used semi-structured interviews and survey data collected in 2016 from the directors of 15 migrant-serving ONG in Tijuana, Mexico, to study how these Organizations support deportees. Building on the interdisciplinary nonprofit literature, we apply theories related to public values to frame our analysis. Our results suggest that NGOs in Tijuana contribute to public value across six roles while supporting deportees. As a pilot project, this paper provides a foundation for future studies of NGOs and the dynamics of U.S.-Mexico border cities receiving deportees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an evaluation of the management and performance of water utilities in the municipalities of Saltillo, Coahuila, and Hermosillo, Sonora, during the 2001-2015 period. The institutional capacity approach was used to analyze the political, administrative, and human resources management factors of both organizations and to compare their management outcomes. Our analysis indicated that the Saltillo organism has higher institutional capacity and has obtained better results than the Hermosillo organism. This study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that lead to effective practices among urban drinking water management organizations. These factors were found to be increased management autonomy, increased measurement coverage, indexation of rates, and staff training. The approach used during the study allowed for the identification of opportunity areas in both organizations, and it can be applied to the assessment of other organizations in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to mortality statistics, in Mexico, during the period 2002-2010, 393 people died by excessive natural heat, mostly in the northwest of the country. Information about these cases is valuable for understanding the social determinants of health associated with this cause of death, so in this paper we analyze the characteristics of dead people that reveal their social situation. The statistics, for example, show that most of the victims were men, most of whom had a low socioeconomic status. This paper explores and opens several lines of research on the impact of high temperatures on the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon social theories that outline different contextual factors in law-breaking to explore the association between certain aspects of social deterioration in a sample of individuals and their participation in drug trafficking, by using a quantitative methodology and a new database obtained from the records of 371 inmates convicted of drug crimes in the state of Sonora (Mexico). The findings show that having a criminal record, using illegal drugs, poverty, educational lag, family disintegration, and residence in the state influence participation in drug trafficking. This analysis contributes to a discussion of the factors that facilitate the spread of crime in northern Mexico and notes that a deterioration in social conditions is a crucial factor in choosing to engage in criminal activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we estimate the price elasticity of the demand for gasoline in Mexico. We use a panel of data that combines cross section, of the Mexican states, and monthly time-series data, from January 1997 to December 2003. The basic hypothesis that is confirmed in the paper is that gasoline demand is more sensitive to price changes in the Northern Border than in non-border regions. This result could justify the differential pricing policy adopted by the federal government, regarding the north-border region, since 2002. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the relationship between female headship and family welfare by using qualitative data gathered trough semiestructured interviews to female household heads in Monterrey's poor sectors. The paper is aimed to analyze the ways by which these women reconstruct their social gender identity and organize their family strategies in order to cope with the needs they face as heads of households by considering that upon the headship experience these women reconstruct themselves not only as women but also as women who have become head of households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are some parameters of economic analysis in specialized papers that barely have incorporated the importance of the economic activity expansion over the geographical scale, no matter in medium, largest or metropolitan cities. We present evidence and hypothesis on the urban nature of economic expansion that might be able to combine the use of concentric and polycentric structure in a city with a population over 300 thousands people. The paper is developed in two main aspects of economic expansion: 1) the nature of the employment that consolidates and structures the labor market; and 2) the organization of intraurban space that is stimulated by those activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper is to produce a comparative policy analysis of nine pension systems (Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic) by reviewing four variables of interest and by analyzing in-depth interviews of officials in charge of supervising pension systems. In this evaluation of pension education programs in Latin America, the experiences of Chile and Uruguay stand out. The study also examines social security education, which helps inform people about their rights and obligations under social security systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments shape social problems, discourses and the solutions to solve them. In this context, the main goal of this paper is the comparative analysis of childcare policies in the following countries: Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Mexico. In order to contribute to the debate about childcare in Latin America, in the light of the frame critical analysis, the problem that each policy solves is analyzed and compared, as well as its aims and solutions. The study is based on governmental documents such as plans and programs, as well as on academic and social organizations discourses, and the literature about the topic in the Latin American region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did a wild carnival in ports of Sonora's Guaymas and Sinaloa's Mazatlan develop in the nineteenth century. The objective of this paper is to analyze the carnival and its relations with power. The conclusion is that a riotous carnival was a response to an equally wild society. Our argument is that the transgressive carnival was born of a lack of intermixing between foreign and local families, and representatives of the economic elite of the ports. Due to the social inequalities during the government of Porf irio Díaz, neither elite nor other social groups remained separate, but diversified their economic and cultural interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to measure, on the basis of the Economic Censuses 2004, 2009 and 2014, as well as 2008 Input-Output Matrix, the productive specialization using the location coefficient and the relational analysis of the automotive industry in Guanajuato. The main findings are an increasing specialization of some economic activities and a permanence of a low level of contribution of locally produced inputs. All of this opens up significant challenges for industrial policy in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T his paper analyzes the economic vulnerability and economic resilience of Baja California, Mexico, in the context of the 2007 international financial crisis. A methodological approach is proposed to develop vulnerability and resilience indexes, and the region's economic performance from 2003 to 2014 is compared to the other entities. Economic performance is measured by unbundling the SGDP into its cyclical and non-cyclical components (trend). In conclusion, when faced with an external shock, Baja California shows economic vulnerability but also strong economic resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does presidential approval benefit from government performance at the subnational level? This article argues that in multilevel systems, in which clarity of responsibility for policy is low, presidential approval ratings are affected by citizens' evaluation of subnational government performance. This paper explores the spillover effects of citizens' evaluation of subnational government performance on presidential approval in Mexico, based on data from the 2012 Americas Barometer study. The results from ordinal logistic regressions and seemingly unrelated regressions indicate that citizen satisfaction with services provided by local governments is positively associated with presidential approval ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the diversity of economic practices around rap music by young people from three cities in the northeast border of Mexico. The approaches employed are those of youth identities, on the one hand, and creative, alternative and solidarity economies on the other. The contributions and limitations of these concepts against empirical evidence are discussed and proposed the economies of resistance. Evidence is presented through seven cases collected during the summer of 2014, through ethnographic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exclusion underlines the xenophobic edicts of the supposed mandate of the majority--predators of minorities--in daily acts of classism and racist jokes. These actions typically take place where different historicities enter into dispute as a result of displacement. This is the case in Baja California, where these expressions of exclusion are denied but not absent. This paper reveals how xenophobia and racism have been present throughout the history of this border, and have taken new forms today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subnational governments in Mexico have been creating citizens' advisory councils on a regular basis. Through these mechanisms, governments seek to incorporate forces to challenge administrations and/or legitimize any decisions. What is really achieved? From a critical perspective, this paper studies an episode based on the work of a citizens' advisory council where the governor of Sonora, a state in northern Mexico, appointed his citizens' advisory council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research evaluates the long-term determinants of Mexican manufacturing competitiveness in the U.S. market. To perform this task, an International Competitiveness (IC) index is constructed and then a model is specified and estimated by using three different econometric methods. The empirical evidence across econometric techniques is consistent in indicating that IC is responsive to the peso-dollar real exchange rate, the yuan-dollar real exchange rate, labor productivity, wages, and the cost of credit. An important contribution of this paper is to show that manufacturing IC is influenced by the yuan-dollar real exchange rate and the real cost of credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the implementation of a regional public policy that favors the development of micro and small enterprises in Baja California's economy to mitigate a gloomy employment situation. Using estimated regression models, it was found that in a global economic crisis scenario where production and employment in large companies are constrained and workers are replaced by more technology-intensive processes, the proliferation of micro and small businesses is a compensatory mechanism to minimize the ef fects of unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work examines the relationship between urban water management and the culture of water, assuming that there is a contradiction between these two aspects. It focuses on drinking-water service in Nuevo Laredo. The methodology employed in this study includes a look at drinking-water management indicators, a review of the literature on water culture, and interviews with local stakeholders about the population's awareness concerning water conservation. The paper f inds that inef f icient water management practices contradict policy objectives involving the culture of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is part of a more extensive research project being carried out at the Institute of Geography of the University of Buenos Aires, whose purposes are 1) to describe and analyze the South American border spaces and 2) to understand what role they play in national territory-building. A geographical description of the Argentina-Uruguay border space will be presented, using a model that considers six components: territorial dif ferentiation, frontierization, subnational territory, supranational territory, border places, and mobility. The conclusions will show the main spatial continuities and discontinuities identif ied there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that the academic and cultural links between students UABC Tijuana and California universities is minimal. California being one of the most dynamic regions in the production of knowledge, its great potential and possibilities have not been sufficiently exploited by students of Tijuana. Restrictions on immigration policy, lack of motivation by institutional authorities and teachers of UABC and the weak presence of actions for border regional integration of college students, was negatively associated with this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists of a descriptive analysis that explains how the successful performance of the wine cluster is followed by improvements in local development indicators. To this end, certain local development indicators are proposed to describe and compare the wine clusters of Mendoza (Argentina) and Serra Gaúcha (Brazil). In Argentina, the Mendoza wine cluster has stimulated the local development of the region. For its part, Serra Gaúcha is the most successful wine center in Brazil and regards Mendoza as the benchmark in terms of local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport infrastructure influences the location of manufacturing firms in that sense, this paper compares the influence of accessibility to ports for export and the location of manufacturing firms in two municipalities in the northern Mexico border. The tools used include the management of a geographic information system and micro-level data of the industrial parks of each municipality. Statistical analysis was based on the application of Poisson models to estimate the sets placement options. The results show that accessibility and market size have greater significance in the location of firms in both cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the power of symbolic ritual actions performed by relatives of missing persons on the land of el Pozolero, to give them a place in the social world. The construction of community mourning is analyzed in the margins of social structure (liminality), and the process by which it provides new frameworks to interpret and make sense of disappearances in the War on Drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article departs from recent contributions in the study of international borders in order to build a better understanding of the US-Mexico border. Despite advances in building better knowledge of this region in recent decades, research continues to be predominantly based on fragmented disciplinary approaches. This paper considers interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to support theorizing on the border region. Building these approaches face a number of problems but it is a much-needed effort to update and improve our knowledge of the complex border realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes profiles from university presidents at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) and Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UAC H) by characterizing a number of features resulting from comparing a given set of variables. Among these variables are those that specifically involve their connection with the university and their sense of belonging to their respective regions. The relevant role that university presidents play based on the own university rules and regulations is also taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the evolution of the border functionality of the Moroccan-Spanish border, one of the most complicated, thought-provoking boundaries in today's world, being the only European frontier in Africa. Among the Spanish-Moroccan border areas, the focal point of this analysis are the Spanish "Minor Sovereign Territories", a set of small border islands that perfectly embody the fluctuations of history in the Mediterranean basin and their reflection in the life and functions of borderland territories and their peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the possible inverse relationship between economic growth as measured by real per capita Gross Domestic Product by State and relative crime levels rates as measured by common, federal and the high impact crimes on relative rates per hundred thousand inhabitants. I analyze the 31 states and the Federal District of Mexico with annual data from 2003-2010. The empirical analysis is based on a panel data econometric model with fixed effects. I conclude that there is a small negative relationship between economic growth of a given entity and the crime rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass media have a strong impact on International Relations. Foreign Correspondents are the key pieces of international information. This paper presents the model of peace journalism as a tool to analyze the frames that journalists give in covering a conflict. The case of study is the coverage made by correspondents in the Spanish press to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict in 2007 -2008. The results show that all journalists analyzed were prone to a peace journalism frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the technological trajectory of the textile industry in Mexico. Based on the proposed Dosi (1982) On this concept, the discussion focuses on the technological paradigm, but also includes the proposal of Pérez (1986), that suggests the concept of technoeconomic paradigm, which takes into account economic and organizational. This allowed developing a fuller explanation of the itinerary followed by this industry. Research is documentary, ranging from the forties of the last century to the early years of this century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrate that the growth and strength of the Baja California Higher Education System (SEES) between 2000 and 2010, is mainly an outcome of the public higher education institutions effort toward the quality consolidation through the organizational change and the public accountability of the educational programs. The Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (UABC) experience is very useful case study to probe it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]