Building the Borderlands: A Transnational History of Irrigated Cotton along the Mexico-Texas BorderCotton, crucial to the economy of the American South, has also played a vital role in the making of the Mexican north. The Lower Río Bravo (Rio Grande) Valley irrigation zone on the border with Texas in northern Tamaulipas, Mexico, was the centerpiece of the Cárdenas government’s effort to make cotton the basis of the national economy. This irrigation district, built and settled by Mexican Americans repatriated from Texas, was a central feature of Mexico’s effort to control and use the waters of the international river for irrigated agriculture. Drawing on previously unexplored archival sources, Casey Walsh discusses the relations among various groups comprising the “social field” of cotton production in the borderlands. By describing the complex relationships among these groups, Walsh contributes to a clearer understanding of capitalism and the state, of transnational economic forces, of agricultural and water issues in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands, and of the environmental impacts of economic development. Building the Borderlands crosses a number of disciplinary, thematic, and regional frontiers, integrating perspectives and literature from the United States and Mexico, from anthropology and history, and from political, economic, and cultural studies. Walsh’s important transnational study will enjoy a wide audience among scholars of Latin American and Western U.S. history, the borderlands, and environmental and agricultural history, as well as anthropologists and others interested in the environment and water rights. |
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agrarian agricultural American Anderson Clayton bales banks began border borderlands Brownsville Brownsville Herald building Calles campesinos capital Cárdenas central century changes Chávez City clear Colonia colonists colonization Company construction continued cotton production countries created crop cultural delta Despite Don Martín early economy efforts ejidatarios ejidos engineers established expansion exports families farm farmers federal government fiber field financing flood control forced formation hacienda hectares held important increase industry investment irrigation labor Laguna land late lived lower markets Matamoros Mexicali Mexican Mexican government Mexico migrant million northern Mexico organized owners percent placed plans political population president problems reform region relations repatriados repatriation Río Bravo Río Bravo/Rio river rural Sauteña settle side social society South Tamaulipas Texas tion United Valle Bajo Río Valle Hermoso Valley workers World zone