Join the Center for Latin American Studies and the Latinx Studies program in the Center for Ethnic Studies for this talk by Dr. Maria Veronica Elias, UT-San Antonio.
Abstract
This lecture will address the U.S.-Mexico border by exploring the concepts of otherness and liminality in light of restrictive immigration discourse and policy that otherize undocumented Latinos as a ‘threat to the whole.’ Drawing on her border policy and governance research, the author will argue that face-to-face interactions unveil a much more complex picture of life in the borderlands. The border emerges as a diverse realm of pull and push forces, with most people experiencing resistance and aversion at some point of their lives, and opportunity and mobility
at others. The liminal – understood as the in-between space along nation-state borders – helps account for transitional borderland experiences where both possibility and heightened risk are at stake. However, the last decade has produced ever-more restricting border policies in light of immigrant upticks form the Global South, augmenting the border militarization apparatus and fomenting governance practices that systematically undermine basic human rights. Finally, an attuned and experiential understanding of specific migrants’ situations can help counter an increasingly restricting border policy scenario and restore a sense of fairness and compassion.
Biography
María Verónica Elías, PhD. is Associate Professor of public administration at the University of Texas, San Antonio’s College for Health, Community, and Public Policy. Her research interests lie in the areas of public administration theory and epistemology, participatory governance processes, and policy and governance of the US-Mexico borderlands. She has recently published in Public Administration, Critical Policy Studies, the Journal of Borderland Studies, andAdministration & Society, among others. She is 2024-2026 Fulbright Scholar Alumni Ambassador.
