Don Mitchell – författare

The act of eating defines and redefines borders. What constitutes “American” in our cuisine has always depended on a liberal crossing of borders, from “the line in the sand” that separates Mexico and the United States, to the grassland boundary with Canada, to the imagined divide in our collective minds between “our” food and “their” food. Immigrant workers have introduced new cuisines and ways of cooking that force the nation to question the boundaries between “us” and “them.”  The stories told in Food Across Borders highlight the contiguity between the intimate decisions we make as individuals concerning what we eat and the social and geopolitical processes we enact to secure nourishment, territory, and belonging.   Published in cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University.

The act of eating defines and redefines borders. What constitutes “American” in our cuisine has always depended on a liberal crossing of borders, from “the line in the sand” that separates Mexico and the United States, to the grassland boundary with Canada, to the imagined divide in our collective minds between “our” food and “their” food. Immigrant workers have introduced new cuisines and ways of cooking that force the nation to question the boundaries between “us” and “them.”  The stories told in Food Across Borders highlight the contiguity between the intimate decisions we make as individuals concerning what we eat and the social and geopolitical processes we enact to secure nourishment, territory, and belonging.   Published in cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University.

A hard-hitting look at the story behind California's famous scenery.The beauty of the California landscape is integral to its place in the imagination of generations of people around the world. In The Lie of the Land, geographer Don Mitchell looks at the human costs associated with this famous scenery. Through an account of the labor history of the state, Mitchell examines the material and ideological struggles over living and working conditions that played a large part in the construction of the contemporary California landscape. The Lie of the Land examines the way the California landscape was built on the backs of migrant workers, focusing on migratory labor and agribusiness before World War II. The book relates the historical geography of California to the processes of labor that made it, discussing not only significant strikes but also on the everyday existence of migrant workers in the labor camps, fields, and “Hoovervilles” where they lived. Mitchell places class struggle at the heart of social development, demonstrating concretely how farm workers affected their social and material environment, as well as exploring how farm owners responded to their workers’ efforts to improve their living and working conditions. Mitchell also places “reformers” in context, revealing the actual nature of their role in relation to migrant workers’ efforts-that of undermining the struggle for genuine social change. In addition, this volume captures the significance of the changing composition of the agricultural workforce, particularly in racial terms, as the class struggle evolved over a period of decades. Mitchell has written a narrative history that describes the intimate connection between landscape representations and the material form of geography. The Lie of the Land places people squarely in the middle of the landscapes they inhabit, shedding light on the complex and seemingly contradictory interactions between progressive state agents, radical workers, and California growers as they seek to remake the land in their own image.

At the outset of World War II, California agriculture seemed to be on the cusp of change. Many Californians, reacting to the ravages of the Great Depression, called for a radical reorientation of the highly exploitative labor relations that had allowed the state to become such a productive farming frontier. But with the importation of the first braceros—“guest workers” from Mexico hired on an “emergency” basis after the United States entered the war—an even more intense struggle ensued over how agriculture would be conducted in the state. Esteemed geographer Don Mitchell argues that by delineating the need for cheap, flexible farm labor as a problem and solving it via the importation of relatively disempowered migrant workers, an alliance of growers and government actors committed the United States to an agricultural system that is, in important respects, still with us.They Saved the Crops is a theoretically rich and stylistically innovative account of grower rapaciousness, worker militancy, rampant corruption, and bureaucratic bias. Mitchell shows that growers, workers, and officials confronted a series of problems that shaped—and were shaped by—the landscape itself. For growers, the problem was finding the right kind of labor at the right price at the right time. Workers struggled for survival and attempted to win power in the face of economic exploitation and unremitting violence. Bureaucrats tried to harness political power to meet the demands of, as one put it, “the people whom we serve.”Drawing on a deep well of empirical materials from archives up and down the state, Mitchell’s account promises to be the definitive book about California agriculture in the turbulent decades of the mid-twentieth century.

Occupy Wall Street did not come from nowhere. It was part of a long history of riot, revolt, uprising, and sometimes even revolution that has shaped New York City. From the earliest European colonization to the present, New Yorkers have been revolting. Hard hitting, revealing, and insightful, Revolting New York tells the story of New York’s evolution through revolution, a story of near-continuous popular (and sometimes not-so-popular) uprising.Richly illustrated with more than ninety historical and contemporary images, historical maps, and maps drawn especially for the book, Revolting New York provides the first comprehensive account of the historical geography of revolt in New York, from the earliest uprisings of the Munsee against the Dutch occupation of Manhattan in the seventeenth century to the Black Lives Matter movement and the unrest of the Trump era. Through this rich narrative, editors Neil Smith and Don Mitchell reveal a continuous, if varied and punctuated, history of rebellion in New York that is as vital as the more standard histories of formal politics, planning, economic growth, and restructuring that largely define our consciousness of New York’s story.Contributors: Marnie Brady, Kathleen Dunn, Zultán Gluck, Rachel Goffe, Harmony Goldberg, Amanda Huron, Malav Kanuga, Esteban Kelly, Manissa McCleave Maharawal, Don Mitchell, Justin Sean Myers, Brendan P. O’Malley, Raymond Pettit, Miguelina Rodriguez, Jenjoy Roybal, McNair Scott, Erin Siodmak, Neil Smith, Peter Waldman, and Nicole Watson.

Occupy Wall Street did not come from nowhere. It was part of a long history of riot, revolt, uprising, and sometimes even revolution that has shaped New York City. From the earliest European colonization to the present, New Yorkers have been revolting. Hard hitting, revealing, and insightful, Revolting New York tells the story of New York’s evolution through revolution, a story of near-continuous popular (and sometimes not-so-popular) uprising.Richly illustrated with more than ninety historical and contemporary images, historical maps, and maps drawn especially for the book, Revolting New York provides the first comprehensive account of the historical geography of revolt in New York, from the earliest uprisings of the Munsee against the Dutch occupation of Manhattan in the seventeenth century to the Black Lives Matter movement and the unrest of the Trump era. Through this rich narrative, editors Neil Smith and Don Mitchell reveal a continuous, if varied and punctuated, history of rebellion in New York that is as vital as the more standard histories of formal politics, planning, economic growth, and restructuring that largely define our consciousness of New York’s story.Contributors: Marnie Brady, Kathleen Dunn, Zultán Gluck, Rachel Goffe, Harmony Goldberg, Amanda Huron, Malav Kanuga, Esteban Kelly, Manissa McCleave Maharawal, Don Mitchell, Justin Sean Myers, Brendan P. O’Malley, Raymond Pettit, Miguelina Rodriguez, Jenjoy Roybal, McNair Scott, Erin Siodmak, Neil Smith, Peter Waldman, and Nicole Watson.

The problem of homelessness in America underpins the definition of an American city: what it is, who it is for, what it does, and why it matters. And the problem of the American city is epitomized in public space. Mean Streets offers, in a single, sustained argument, a theory of the social and economic logic behind the historical development, evolution, and especially the persistence of homelessness in the contemporary American city. By updating and revisiting thirty years of research and thinking on this subject, Don Mitchell explores the conditions that produce and sustain homelessness and how its persistence relates to the way capital works in the urban built environment. He also addresses the historical and social origins that created the boundary between public and private. Consequently, he unpacks the structure, meaning, and governance of urban public space and its uses.Mitchell traces his argument through two sections: a broadly historical overview of how homelessness has been managed in public spaces, followed by an exploration of recent Supreme Court jurisprudence that expands our national discussion. Beyond the mere regulation of the homeless and the poor, homelessness has metastasized more recently, Mitchell argues, to become a general issue that affects all urbanites.

The problem of homelessness in America underpins the definition of an American city: what it is, who it is for, what it does, and why it matters. And the problem of the American city is epitomized in public space. Mean Streets offers, in a single, sustained argument, a theory of the social and economic logic behind the historical development, evolution, and especially the persistence of homelessness in the contemporary American city. By updating and revisiting thirty years of research and thinking on this subject, Don Mitchell explores the conditions that produce and sustain homelessness and how its persistence relates to the way capital works in the urban built environment. He also addresses the historical and social origins that created the boundary between public and private. Consequently, he unpacks the structure, meaning, and governance of urban public space and its uses.Mitchell traces his argument through two sections: a broadly historical overview of how homelessness has been managed in public spaces, followed by an exploration of recent Supreme Court jurisprudence that expands our national discussion. Beyond the mere regulation of the homeless and the poor, homelessness has metastasized more recently, Mitchell argues, to become a general issue that affects all urbanites.

LANDSBYGDER Sveriges landsbygder har under det senaste seklet präglats av avfolkning. I dag bor ungefär en tredjedel av landets befolkning i områden som klassas som landsbygd. Men en minskande befolkning betyder inte att landsbygden inte längre används; tvärtom tycks den spela en väsentlig roll för hur världen så som vi känner den formas. Det handlar om dess roll i produktionen av energi och råvaror. Det handlar om dess funktion som stadens utkant, där den antingen ger staden innehållsliga konturer eller tjänar som tillflyktsort för stressade storstadsmänniskor. Det handlar om dess betydelse som hem för dem som befolkar den. Trots att landsbygden ofta beskrivs med termer som avskildhet och periferi, spelar den alltså en central roll i samhällsbygget. Det är denna flerfaldiga roll som numret belyser. Hur landsbygdens avfolkning sammanhänger med flera sammantvinnade politiska ingrepp och intressen beskrivs i Jörgen Johanssons artikel, som tar avstamp i ett 1970-tal då krav på det småskaliga jordbrukets rationalisering samspelade med önskan om att förse exportindustrierna med arbetskraft. Konsekvenserna av landsbygdens historiska förändring fördjupas i Wendell Berrys klassiska text. Med utgångspunkt från maskinernas och massproduktionens inträde i jordbruket frågar sig Berry vad som händer med jorden och dem som brukar den när syftet blir att tillhandahålla så mycket livsmedel som möjligt, så billigt som möjligt och med så få arbetstimmar som möjligt. Nedvärderingen av småskaliga jordbruk diskuteras i Josefin Hägglunds text om skogsbrukets historia. Hon visar att grunden för den prioritering av skogsbruk framför andra värden som vi i dag lever med lades längre tillbaka i tiden än vad dagens återupplivade debatt om skogsbruk låter ana. I David Väyrynens predikan står konflikten inte mellan stad och land eller skogsbruk och lantbruk, utan mellan dem som kontrollerar och dem som kontrolleras, mellan dem som kan glömma och dem för vilka minnet etsat sig fast. Innehåll i Fronesis nr 72–73 (256 sidor): Kalle Eriksson, Charlotte Fridolfsson och Carolina Pettersson: Landsbygder. Kvarlevor efter urbaniseringen, resursförråd eller utopiska riktmärken? David Väyrynen: Varendaste en av dom där dom är skallmätare Carolina Pettersson och Desirée Enlund: Landsbygdernas värdeskapande. Introduktion till avsnittets texter Don Mitchell: Arbetets geografi och geografins arbete. Kalifornien som (anti)revolutionärt landskap Peter van Eerbeek: En global landsbygd? Thailändsk arbetskraftsmigration till den svenska bärbranschen Josefin Hägglund: Carl Lindhagen och skogsdebattens långa rötter Axel Sievers: Stad och land bakom Facebooks sociala medium Clara Bodén: Stamnätet. Inläsningsmanus Wendell Berry: Användning av energi Kalle Eriksson och Klara Meijer: Landsbygden som betydelsebärare. Introduktion till avsnittets texter Marit Kapla i samtal med Hannah Ohlén Järvinen: Den som talar vill bli förstådd Maxim Vlasov och Kristoffer Ekberg: Inre uppror och utopiskt platsskapande. Gröna vågor i 1970-talets och dagens Sverige Anna-Lisa Fransson: Den inre striden Klara Meijer: Att förklara sig. Platsmarknadsföring och Willows roman Inlandet Linn Hansén och Johannes Samuelsson: Kom fira med oss Erik Bengtsson och Charlotte Fridolfsson: Svensk landsbygdspolitik mellan EU och klassrummet. Introduktion till avsnittets texter Jörgen Johansson: Hem till byn. Svensk landsbygdspolitik under femtio år Marco Eimermann, Charlotta Hedberg och Mari Nuga: Hållbara livsstilar och föreställningar om landsbygd Makda Embaie: Vi som blev vi, nu Selma Lagerlöf i översättning av Hannah Ohlén Järvinen: På spaning etter de männischer sôm flô Redaktörer: Kalle Eriksson, Charlotte Fridolfsson och Carolina Pettersson. Redaktion: Erik Bengtsson, Marco Eimermann, Desirée Enlund, Anna-Lisa Fransson, Josefin Hägglund, Klara Meijer och Maxim Vlasov.