U.S.-Mexican Border Today

Paul Ganster is professor of history and director of the Institute for Regional Studies of the California at San Diego State University. Kimberly Collins is professor of public administration and executive director of the William and Barbara Leonard Transportation Center at California State University, San Bernardino.

This fourth edition of The U.S.-Mexican Border Today by Ganster and Collins offers a compelling, readable account of both contemporary and historical issues related to the southwest border. Importantly, the authors' exploration of historical issues aligns with the latest scholarship in the field. After a quick overview of the North American Southwest in chapter 1, they summarize issues related to industrialism and the border at the turn of the 20th century and the ramifications of so-called progressive social changes prior to the Great Depression in chapters 2–4. Ganster and Collins hit a nice stride in chapters 5 and 6, grounding the region's globalization in mid-20th-century issues, which sets the stage for thorough discussions of contemporary issues ranging from public health, the environment, Natives' concerns, and border security to national politics. Perhaps most significantly, the authors examine the border from both sides, integrating Mexican and American perspectives on the region's history and its current problems. This volumestands as a rare transnational analysis of the border that takes historical issues up to the present day, providing a readable and engaging analysis that is accessible to students. Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.

• Note about the Cover Image Illustrations and Tables Preface Acknowledgments Acronyms Introduction 1 Distinguishing Characteristics and Early History: Frontier, Borderlands, and Border Region The Colonial Period: Life on a New World Frontier From Frontier to Borderlands Conflict between the United States and Mexico Early Border Phenomena 2 Booms and Busts on the Border: Economic Development, 1880s–1920s The First Border Boom, 1880–1910 The Border Economy during the Mexican Revolution Prohibition on the Border Early Free Trade 3 Life on the Border: 1880s–1910 Causes of the Mexican Revolution The Social Character of the Revolution in the Mexican North The Revolutionary Period on the U.S. Side of the Border: Transboundary Population Movements during the Revolution, Prohibition, and the Depression 4 Booms and Busts on the Border: The Great Depression and World War II The Great Depression World War II The Bracero Program 5 Economic Trends since 1950: Legacies of War and a Globalizing Economy 1The Border Economy Comes of Age Mexican Government Policy and the Border: PRONAF and BIP—the Maquiladoras The U.S. Border Economy 6 The Consequences of Rapid Growth in the Border Region: Social and Cultural Change since the 1940s Population and Migration Urbanization Mexican Americans The Impact of Migration on Sending Communities Cultural Evolutions 7 Border Issues in U.S.-Mexican Relations: Boundary, Environment, Health, and Native Americans The Elusive Boundary The Environment under Siege Public Health Issues Native Americans and the Border 8 Border Issues in U.S.-Mexican Relations: Drug Trafficking, Security, Migration, NAFTA, and Transborder Cooperation Drug Trafficking Security Migration Trade and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement Transborder Cooperation 9 The Border and National Politics The United States Mexico Migration and the Impact on Local Communities United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement Border Leaders Border in the Time of a Pandemic Developing Twenty-First-Century Border Institutions Suggested Readings Index About the Authors