Land of Necessity: Consumer Culture in the United States–Mexico Borderlands

Open Access Published by Duke University Press 2009

Land of Necessity

Consumer Culture in the United States–Mexico Borderlands

Edited by: Alexis McCrossen
With contributions by: Howard Campbell , Amy S Greenberg , Rachel St. John and Laura Isabel Serna

Overview

About this book

Historians and anthropologists unravel the interplay of the national and transnational, and of scarcity and abundance, in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.

Author / Editor information

Alexis McCrossen is Associate Professor of History at Southern Methodist University. She is the author of Holy Day, Holiday: The American Sunday.

Reviews

“[S]tudents of the US-Mexico borderlands and people interested in the problems posed by globalization (which is connecting asymmetrical markets together around the world) will fin a lot to ponder in this collection. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” - M. J. Van de Logt, Choice

“With its many illustrations and diverse essays, Land of Necessity is an excellent collection that sheds light on how the Mexican-United States border has created a unique culture of consumerism that has been impacted by wider trends in trade, politics, migration, and marketing in both countries.” - Peter Dedek, Southwestern Historical Quarterly

“This collection of essays by historians and anthropologists significantly deepens our knowledge about the cultural and commercial exchanges connecting the United States and Mexico. It will influence borderlands scholars, who will see the region anew through the prism of consumer culture, and historians of consumption, who rarely look to the borderlands for insight into national trends.” - Geraldo Lujan Cadava, Journal of American History

“Land of Necessity offers a tantalizing variety of perspectives on consumerism and the circulation of merchandise in the US-Mexico borderlands. . . . Focusing on transnational consumer culture, as Land of Necessity so ably does, is an approach that will no doubt provide further insightful riches to be distributed, contemplated, and shared.” - Andrew Grant Wood, Canadian Journal of History

“I do not know of any other single volume devoted to the history of consumption along the U.S.-Mexico border. Alexis McCrossen has identified a very important area of inquiry that has been pursued only in scattered and fragmentary ways until now, and she has assembled an ambitious, well thought out, engagingly written, and remarkably well integrated collection.”—Andres Reséndez, author of Changing National Identities at the Frontier: Texas and New Mexico, 1800–1850

“This collection of cutting-edge essays reminds us that the U.S.-Mexico borderland is also a consumer marketplace and that consumption is motivated as much by necessity as desire. Land of Necessity makes a powerful case that this border matters for understanding consumer capitalism, not just immigration.”—Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of mass Consumption in Postwar America

“Land of Necessity offers a tantalizing variety of perspectives on consumerism and the circulation of merchandise in the US-Mexico borderlands. . . . Focusing on transnational consumer culture, as Land of Necessity so ably does, is an approach that will no doubt provide further insightful riches to be distributed, contemplated, and shared.”

-- Andrew Grant Wood Canadian Journal of History

“[S]tudents of the US-Mexico borderlands and people interested in the problems posed by globalization (which is connecting asymmetrical markets together around the world) will fin a lot to ponder in this collection. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.”

-- M. J. Van de Logt Choice

“This collection of essays by historians and anthropologists significantly deepens our knowledge about the cultural and commercial exchanges connecting the United States and Mexico. It will influence borderlands scholars, who will see the region anew through the prism of consumer culture, and historians of consumption, who rarely look to the borderlands for insight into national trends.”

-- Geraldo Lujan Cadava Journal of American History

Topics

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 440
Illustrations
- Other: 105 illustrations, 5 maps

eBook

Planned Publication: June 19, 2009
ISBN: 9781478090823