Building Walls, Destroying Borderlands
Repertoires of Militarization on the United States–Mexico Border
in Nature and CultureAll currencies in US Dollar
Abstract
Checkpoints, barriers, surveillance technologies, and military-police enforcement constitute the current stage of militarization on the United States–Mexico border. Previous literature in environmental sociology and United States–Mexico border studies overlooks how militarization ravages communities through its environmental disruptions. Our aim is to identify what we describe as repertoires of militarization used by the state to facilitate militarized buildup and exacerbate environmental degradation in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). We use ethnographic methods, document analysis, and participant observation to reveal three interrelated repertoires that threaten the environment and the peoples who inhabit it—a violation of international treaties, a waiving of environmental laws, and expansionary law enforcement powers.
Contributor Notes
Dr. Jennifer G. Correa is Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. She uses ethnographic methods to study the social, political, and economic consequences of the border wall on the Texas–Mexico border, specifically, the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Her most recent work focuses on the environmental and community harms brought on by the convergence of national security, militarization, and environmental degradation in the borderlands. Email: jcorrea@tamusa.edu
Dr. Joseph M. Simpson is Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. He uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the social dimensions of human impacts on the environment. His work on the treadmill of information challenges the assumed sustainability of the information society. His most recent work uncovers the state's abrogation of environmental stewardship along the United States-Mexico border in favor of unfettered border security. He currently serves on the San Antonio's Climate Equity Advisory Committee. Email: joseph.simpson@tamusa.edu