Oscar J Martinez – Författare

As the issue of immigration between Mexico and the United States becomes more critical, it is increasingly important that we understand the process of development in Mexico's northern border region. This collection of essays offers an empirical analysis of development in Ciudad Juárez, with an emphasis on the social and spatial contexts in which economic relations occur. The analyses are framed by a general discussion of urbanization, migration, and industrialization, considered in light of the history of Mexico's northern frontier. Contributors recount the city's pattern of urban growth in response to the natural environment and the changing national culture and examine current patterns of land use, especially as compared to similar development in other Latin American cities. Other issues considered are the impact on household activities of the structure of women's participation in the maquiladora work force; the city's use of its human resources, especially in off-shore assembly activities; and the foreign orientation of the Juárez economy.

As the issue of immigration between Mexico and the United States becomes more critical, it is increasingly important that we understand the process of development in Mexico's northern border region. This collection of essays offers an empirical analysis of development in Ciudad Juárez, with an emphasis on the social and spatial contexts in which economic relations occur. The analyses are framed by a general discussion of urbanization, migration, and industrialization, considered in light of the history of Mexico's northern frontier. Contributors recount the city's pattern of urban growth in response to the natural environment and the changing national culture and examine current patterns of land use, especially as compared to similar development in other Latin American cities. Other issues considered are the impact on household activities of the structure of women's participation in the maquiladora work force; the city's use of its human resources, especially in off-shore assembly activities; and the foreign orientation of the Juárez economy.

While the U.S.-Mexico borderlands resemble border regions in other parts of the world, nowhere else do so many millions of people from two dissimilar nations live in such close proximity and interact with each other so intensely. Borderlanders are singular in their history, outlook, and behavior, and their lifestyle deviates from the norms of central Mexico and the interior United States; yet these Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Anglo-Americans also differ among themselves, and within each group may be found cross-border consumers, commuters, and people who are inclined or disinclined to embrace both cultures. Based on firsthand interviews with individuals from all walks of life, Border People presents case histories of transnational interaction and transculturation, and addresses the themes of cross-border migration, interdependence, labor, border management, ethnic confrontation, cultural fusion, and social activism. Here migrants and workers, functionaries and activists, and "mixers" who have crossed cultural boundaries recall events in their lives related to life on the border.Their stories show how their lives have been shaped by the borderlands milieu and how they have responded to the situations they have faced. Border People shows that these borderlanders live in a unique human environment shaped by physical distance from central areas and constant exposure to transnational processes. The oral histories contained here reveal, to a degree that no scholarly analysis can, that borderlanders are indeed people, each with his or her own individual perspective, hopes, and dreams.

?U.S. residents are largely unaware that Mexicans also view their northern border with concern, and at times even alarm. Border communities, such as Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, have long been subjected to heavy criticism from Mexico City and other interior areas for their close ties to the United States, a country viewed with apprehension and suspicion by the Mexican citizenry.? Oscar Martinez's words may come as a surprise to those who associate the U.S. southern border with banditry, racial strife, illegal migration, drug smuggling, and official corruption, ll attributed to Mexico. In Troublesome Border, now revised to reflect the dramatic changes over the last two decades, a distinguished scholar and long-time resident of the border area addresses these and other problems that have caused increasing concern to federal governments on both sides of the border. This second edition of Troublesome Border has been updated and revised to cover dramatic developments since the book's first publication in 1988 that have once again transformed the region in fundamental ways.Martinez includes new information on migration and drugs, including the extraordinary rise of violence traced largely to the rampant illegal drug trade; the devastating effects of U.S. Border Patrol blockades that have resulted in thousands of deaths; and the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Juárez is no ordinary city. Its history is exhilarating and tragic. Part of the state of Chihuahua and located on the border with the United States opposite El Paso, Texas, Juárez has often captured the world’s attention in dramatic fashion.In Ciudad Juárez: Saga of a Legendary Border City, Oscar J. Martínez provides a historical overview of the economic and social evolution of this famous transnational urban center from the 1848 creation of the international boundary between Mexico and the United States to the present, emphasizing the city’s deep ties to the United States.Martínez also explores major aspects of the social history of the city, including cross-border migration, urbanization, population growth, living standards, conditions among the city’s workers, crime, and the circumstances that led to the horrendous violence that catapulted Juárez to the top rung of the world’s most violent urban areas in the early twenty-first century.In countless ways, the history of Juárez is the history of the entire Mexican northern frontier. Understanding how the city evolved provides a greater appreciation for the formidable challenges faced by Mexican fronterizos, and yields vital insights into the functioning of borderland regions around the world.

The U.S.-Mexican borderlands form the region where the United States and Latin America have interacted with the greatest intensity. In U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, Oscar Martinez has brought together both scholarly essays and primary documents that address the protracted conflict rooted in the vast difference in power between Mexico and its northern neighbor. Each of the seven parts of this new reader explores a key issue in borderlands studies and contains several essays followed by documents such as treaties, government reports, newspaper articles, and interviews.

Mexico and the United States may be neighbors, but their economies offer stark contrasts. In Mexico’s Uneven Development: The Geographical and Historical Context of Inequality, Oscar J. Martínez explores Mexico’s history to explain why Mexico remains less developed than the United States. Weaving in stories from his own experiences growing up along the U.S.-Mexico border, Martínez shows how the foundational factors of external relations, the natural environment, the structures of production and governance, natural resources, and population dynamics have all played roles in shaping the Mexican economy. This interesting and thought-provoking study clearly and convincingly explains the issues that affect Mexico's underdevelopment. It will prove invaluable to anyone studying Mexico’s past or interested in its future.