Mexico And The United States

Josefina Zoraida Vazquez and Lorenzo Meyer recreate, from a distinctly Mexican perspective, the dramatic story of how one country's politics, economy, and culture have been influenced by its neighbor. Throughout, the authors emphasize the predominance of the United States, the defensive position of Mexico, and the impact of the United States on internal Mexican developments.

In 1821 Mexico was geographically the largest country in the western hemisphere. By 1853 however, it was but a quarter of its original size. Meanwhile, its neighbour north of the border had expanded its territory enormously - and mostly at Mexico's expense. Similarly in 1800 Mexico's per capita income was half that of the United States; by 1877 it had dropped to one-tenth. Such asymetries have long characterised the relationship between Mexico and the United States.

Drug wars, NAFTA, presidential politics, and heightened attention to Mexican immigration are just some of the recent issues that are freshly interpreted in this updated survey of Mexican-U.S. relations. The fourth edition has been completely revised and offers a lively, engaging, and up-to-date analysis of historical patterns of change and continuity as well as contemporary issues. Ranging from Mexican antiquity and the arrival of the Spanish and British to the present-day administrations of Felipe Caldern and Barack Obama, historians Dirk Raat and Michael Brescia evaluate the political, economic, and cultural trends and events that have shaped the ways that Mexicans and Americans have regarded each other over the centuries. Raat and Brescia pay special attention to the factors that have subordinated Mexico not only to "the colossus of the North" but to many other players in the global economy. They also provide a unique look at the cultural dynamics of Gran Chichimeca or Mexamerica, the borderlands where the two countries share a common history. The bibliographical essay has been revised to reflect current research and scholarship.

This binational reference for U.S. and Mexican policymakers presents the interrelated issues of Mexican immigration to the United States and Mexico's economic and social development. Differences in economic growth, wages, and the employment situation between two countries are critical determinants of immigration, and migration of labor out of Mexico, in addition to economic and social policies, affects Mexico's development.

By sharing one of the longest land borders in the world, the United States and Mexico will always have a special relationship. In the early twenty-first century, they are as important to one another as ever before with a vital trade partnership and often-tense migration positions. The ideal introduction to U.S.-Mexican relations, this book moves from conflicts all through the nineteenth century up to contemporary democratic elections in Mexico. Domínguez and Fernández de Castro deftly trace the path of the relationship between these North American neighbors from bloody conflicts to (wary) partnership. By covering immigration, drug trafficking, NAFTA, democracy, environmental problems, and economic instability, the second edition of The United States and Mexico provides a thorough look back and an informed vision of the future.

In this history of the social and human sciences in Mexico and the United States, Karin Alejandra Rosemblatt reveals intricate connections among the development of science, the concept of race, and policies toward indigenous peoples. Focusing on the anthropologists, sociologists, biologists, physicians, and other experts who collaborated across borders from the Mexican Revolution through World War II, Rosemblatt traces how intellectuals on both sides of the Rio Grande forged shared networks in which they discussed indigenous peoples and other ethnic minorities. In doing so, Rosemblatt argues, they refashioned race as a scientific category and consolidated their influence within their respective national policy circles. Postrevolutionary Mexican experts aimed to transform their country into a modern secular state with a dynamic economy, and central to this endeavor was learning how to "manage" racial difference and social welfare. The same concern animated U.S. New Deal policies toward Native Americans. The scientists' border-crossing conceptions of modernity, race, evolution, and pluralism were not simple one-way impositions or appropriations, and they had significant effects. In the United States, the resulting approaches to the management of Native American affairs later shaped policies toward immigrants and black Americans, while in Mexico, officials rejected policy prescriptions they associated with U.S. intellectual imperialism and racial segregation.

Americans from radically different political persuasions agree on the need to “fix” the “broken” US immigration laws to address serious deficiencies and improve border enforcement. In Immigration Law and the US–Mexico Border, Kevin Johnson and Bernard Trujillo focus on what for many is at the core of the entire immigration debate in modern America: immigration from Mexico. In clear, reasonable prose, Johnson and Trujillo explore the long history of discrimination against US citizens of Mexican ancestry in the United States and the current movement against “illegal aliens”—persons depicted as not deserving fair treatment by US law. The authors argue that the United States has a special relationship with Mexico by virtue of sharing a 2,000-mile border and a “land-grab of epic proportions” when the United States “acquired” nearly two-thirds of Mexican territory between 1836 and 1853. The authors explain US immigration law and policy in its many aspects—including the migration of labor, the place of state and local regulation over immigration, and the contributions of Mexican immigrants to the US economy. Their objective is to help thinking citizens on both sides of the border to sort through an issue with a long, emotional history that will undoubtedly continue to inflame politics until cooler, and better-informed, heads can prevail. The authors conclude by outlining possibilities for the future, sketching a possible movement to promote social justice. Great for use by students of immigration law, border studies, and Latino studies, this book will also be of interest to anyone wondering about the general state of immigration law as it pertains to our most troublesome border.

Examines the history and culture of Mexico and its relations with its neighbors to the north and east from the Spanish Conquest to the current presidency of Vicente Fox.