Globalization and Latin American Geography: Linking Scales of Analysis

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal builds on a longstanding dare we say essential aspect of Latin American geography: field work. The six papers herein aim to provide some clarity to the huge conceptual and methodological gap behind economic, politi cal, and cultural globalization. Allied disciplines often approach globalization with broad strokes in attempts to build normative models and theoretical frameworks that explain social change. Yet, as David Keeling (2004) argued in an earlier issue of this Journal, globalization has become a buzzword for structural change. Consequently, how do we approach a concept that has entered common parlance to such an extent that it has come to mean virtually all things to all people? Geographers have long grappled with modernization, under development, Europeanization, and a variety of issues that hint at some aspects of rapid transformation fostered by the dual forces of policy and technology (direct con tracting with small-scale horticultural producers in Mexico, blogs in Bolivia, remittances in rural areas of Mexico, on-line subcontracting in Argentina, medical tourism along the U.S.-Mexico border, the proliferation of supermarket chains throughout Latin America). An essential component of these new social and economic forms in Latin America has been the rise of neoliberalism and attendant ways in which the state reconfigures its role in social and economic life. However, in contrast to the myopic notion of some inexora ble, exogenous, and homogenizing force that operates uniformly at all scales in all places, we concur with scholars such as Radcliffe (2005) and Henderson et al. (2002), who assert that the structural changes wrought by the processes of globalization are mediated by local, place-specific social relations. Consequendy, there are profound implications for small-scale agriculture, urban work, social engagement, and regional political alliances based on location and ethnicity. The essays in this special issue grapple with these and related debates. Four articles focus on Mexico and two on South America. The first contribution by Gabriel Judkins explores the role of the U.S.-Mexico border in facilitating and constraining spatial inter action in the post-NAFTA era. Persistence of the U.S.-Mexico Border: Expansion of Medical Tourism amid Trade Liberalization demonstrates that actors on both sides of