Downtown Juárez

Downtown Juárez
Author: Howard Campbell
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2021-11-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1477323880
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At least 200,000 people have died in Mexico’s so-called drug war, and the worst suffering has been in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. How did it get so bad? After three decades studying that question, Howard Campbell doesn’t believe there is any one answer. Misguided policies, corruption, criminality, and the borderland economy are all factors. But none explains how violence in downtown Juárez has become heartbreakingly “normal.” A rigorous yet moving account, Downtown Juárez is informed by the sex workers, addicts, hustlers, bar owners, human smugglers, migrants, and down-and-out workers struggling to survive in an underworld where horrifying abuses have come to seem like the natural way of things. Even as Juárez’s elite northeast section thrives on the profits of multinational corporations, and law-abiding citizens across the city mobilize against crime and official malfeasance, downtown’s cantinas, barrios, and brothels are tyrannized by misery. Campbell’s is a chilling perspective, suggesting that, over time, violent acts feed off each other, losing their connection to any specific cause. Downtown Juárez documents this banality of evil—and confronts it—with the stories of those most affected.

Ciudad Juárez

Ciudad Juárez
Author: Oscar J. Martínez
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2018-03-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0816538190
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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.

Drug War Zone

Drug War Zone
Author: Howard Campbell
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0292782799
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A ground-level chronicle of the violent drug war in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico—with accounts from both traffickers and law enforcement, and “astute analysis” (The Americas). Thousands die in drug-related violence every year in Mexico. Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, adjacent to El Paso, Texas, has become the most violent city in the drug war. Much of the cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine consumed in the United States is imported across the Mexican border, making El Paso/Juárez one of the major drug-trafficking venues in the world. In this anthropological study of drug trafficking and anti-drug law enforcement efforts on the US–Mexico border, Howard Campbell uses an ethnographic perspective to chronicle the recent Mexican drug war, focusing especially on people and events in the El Paso/Juárez area. It is the first social science study of the violent drug war that is tearing Mexico apart. Based on deep access to the drug-smuggling world, this study presents the drug war through the words of direct participants. Half of the book consists of oral histories from drug traffickers, and the other half from law enforcement officials. There is much journalistic coverage of the drug war, but very seldom are the lived experiences of traffickers and “narcs” presented in such vivid detail. In addition to providing an up-close, personal view of this world, Campbell explains and analyzes the functioning of cartels, the corruption that facilitates trafficking, the strategies of smugglers and anti-narcotics officials, and the perilous culture of drug trafficking that Campbell refers to as the “Drug War Zone.” “This collection of oral histories of drug traffickers and counter-drug officials examines the border narco-world through the eyes of first-hand participants . . . An invaluable resource for anyone seeking a greater sociological understanding.” —Journal of Latin American Studies

The Best American Sports Writing 2020

The Best American Sports Writing 2020
Author: Glenn Stout
Publisher: Mariner Books
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2020-10-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 035819699X
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For over twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has been a showcase for the most exceptional sports journalism of the previous year, selected by an acclaimed guest editor. Represented in this year's collection are giants in the field as well as up-and-coming writers to watch--the only shared traits among the diverse styles and voices are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing and the pure passion they tap into.

Border Junkies

Border Junkies
Author: Scott Comar
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2011-10-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 029272683X
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The drug war that has turned Juárez, Mexico, into a killing field that has claimed more than 7,000 lives since 2008 captures headlines almost daily. But few accounts go all the way down to the streets to investigate the lives of individual drug users. One of those users, Scott Comar, survived years of heroin addiction and failed attempts at detox and finally cleaned up in 2003. Now a graduate student at the University of Texas at El Paso in the history department's borderlands doctoral program, Comar has written Border Junkies, a searingly honest account of his spiraling descent into heroin addiction, surrender, change, and recovery on the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Junkies is the first book ever written about the lifestyle of active addiction on the streets of Juárez. Comar vividly describes living between the disparate Mexican and American cultures and among the fellow junkies, drug dealers, hookers, coyote smugglers, thieves, and killers who were his friends and neighbors in addiction—and the social workers, missionaries, shelter workers, and doctors who tried to help him escape. With the perspective of his anthropological training, he shows how homelessness, poverty, and addiction all fuel the use of narcotics and the rise in their consumption on the streets of Juárez and contribute to the societal decay of this Mexican urban landscape. Comar also offers significant insights into the U.S.-Mexico borderland's underground and peripheral economy and the ways in which the region's inhabitants adapt to the local economic terrain.

Gangs of the El Paso–Juárez Borderland

Gangs of the El Paso–Juárez Borderland
Author: Mike Tapia
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2019-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0826361102
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This thought-provoking book examines gang history in the region encompassing West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Known as the El Paso–Juárez borderland region, the area contains more than three million people spanning 130 miles from east to west. From the badlands—the historically notorious eastern Valle de Juárez—to the Puerto Palomas port of entry at Columbus, New Mexico, this area has become more militarized and politicized than ever before. Mike Tapia examines this region by exploring a century of historical developments through a criminological lens and by studying the diverse subcultures on both sides of the law. Tapia looks extensively at the role of history and geography on criminal subculture formation in the binational urban setting of El Paso–Juárez, demonstrating the region’s unique context for criminogenic processes. He provides a poignant case study of Homeland Security and the apparent lack of drug-war spillover in communities on the US-Mexico border.

Postcards from the Chihuahua Border

Postcards from the Chihuahua Border
Author: Daniel D. Arreola
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2019-10-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0816539952
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Just a trolley ride from El Paso, Ciudad Juárez was a popular destination in the early 1900s. Enticing and exciting, tourists descended on this and other Mexican border towns to browse curio shops, dine and dance, attend bullfights, and perhaps escape Prohibition America. In Postcards from the Chihuahua Border Daniel D. Arreola captures the exhilaration of places in time, taking us back to Mexico’s northern border towns of Cuidad Juárez, Ojinaga, and Palomas in the early twentieth century. Drawing on more than three decades of archival work, Arreola uses postcards and maps to unveil the history of these towns along west Texas’s and New Mexico’s southern borders. Postcards offer a special kind of visual evidence. Arreola’s collection of imagery and commentary about them shows us singular places, enriching our understandings of history and the history of change in Chihuahua. No one postcard tells the entire story. But image after image offers a collected view and insight into changing perceptions. Arreola’s geography of place looks both inward and outward. We see what tourists see, while at the same time gaining insight about what postcard photographers and postcard publishers wanted to be seen and perceived about these border communities. Postcards from the Chihuahua Border is a colorful and dynamic visual history. It invites the reader to time travel, to revisit another era—the first half of the last century—when these border towns were framed and made popular through picture postcards.

The Rough Guide to Mexico (Travel Guide eBook)

The Rough Guide to Mexico (Travel Guide eBook)
Author: Rough Guides
Publisher: Apa Publications (UK) Limited
Total Pages: 1526
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 183905896X
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Practical travel guide to Mexico featuring points-of-interest structured lists of all sights and off-the-beaten-track treasures, with detailed colour-coded maps, practical details about what to see and to do in Mexico, how to get there and around, pre-departure information, as well as top time-saving tips, like a visual list of things not to miss in Mexico, expert author picks and itineraries to help you plan your trip. The Rough Guide to MEXICO covers: Mexico City, Acapulco and the Pacific beaches, inland Jalisco and Michoacán, the Bajio, Veracruz, the north, the northwest and Copper Canyon, Baja California, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco and the Yucatán. Inside this travel guide you'll find: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRAVELLER Experiences selected for every kind of trip to Mexico, from off-the-beaten-track adventures in Chiapas to family activities in child-friendly places, like Oaxaca or chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas, like Tulum. PRACTICAL TRAVEL TIPS Essential pre-departure information including Mexico entry requirements, getting around, health information, travelling with children, sports and outdoor activities, food and drink, festivals, culture and etiquette, shopping, tips for travellers with disabilities and more. TIME-SAVING ITINERARIES Carefully planned routes covering the best of Mexico give a taste of the richness and diversity of the destination, and have been created for different time frames or types of trip. DETAILED REGIONAL COVERAGE Clear structure within each sightseeing chapter includes regional highlights, brief history, detailed sights and places ordered geographically, recommended restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and major shops or entertainment options. INSIGHTS INTO GETTING AROUND LIKE A LOCAL Tips on how to beat the crowds, save time and money and find the best local spots for surfing, learning about local history and sampling local delicacies. HIGHLIGHTS OF THINGS NOT TO MISS Rough Guides' rundown of Palenque, Merida, Baja and Guanajuato's best sights and top experiences helps to make the most of each trip to Mexico, even in a short time. HONEST AND INDEPENDENT REVIEWS Written by Rough Guides' expert authors with a trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, to help to find the best places in Mexico, matching different needs. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Comprehensive 'Contexts' chapter features fascinating insights into Mexico, with coverage of history, religion, ethnic groups, environment, wildlife and books, plus a handy language section and glossary. FABULOUS FULL COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY Features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Lagos de Montebello National Park and the spectacular Pirámide del Sol. COLOUR-CODED MAPPING Practical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered, colour-coded keys for quick orientation in Cuernavaca, Tampico and many more locations in Mexico, reduce need to go online. USER-FRIENDLY LAYOUT With helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time.

Borderlands

Borderlands
Author: Hastings Donnan
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2012-07-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0761851240
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Borderlands are often seen as zones of instability, uncertainty, marginality, and danger. Yet, they increasingly attract the attention of ethnographers as a unique lens through which to view the intersections of the national, transnational, and global forces that shape the securities and insecurities of our globalizing age. The contributors to this volume examine how different kinds of (in)security manifest and interconnect at state borders, encompassing the personal and the political, the social and the economic, in ways that reinforce or undermine the identities of those whose lives these borders frame. Drawing upon case studies from the Southern Cone, the U.S.-Mexico border, and borders in Greece, Ireland, and southeast Asia, the authors show that borders raise questions of security not just for those who live and cross them, including ethnographers, but also for the sustainability of the physical environments and wildlife disturbed by the passage, movement, and containment borders generate.

Ringside Seat to a Revolution

Ringside Seat to a Revolution
Author: David Romo
Publisher:
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN:
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Presents a comprehensive history of the Mexican Revolution of 1911 and the cities of El Paso and Juarez, and contains essays and archival photographs about Pancho Villa and other revolutionaries of the time.