Questioning colonia consolidation in a Mexican border city: Charity and the charms of the narcomundo in a neoliberal political economy

Abstract

This article examines two drags on organizing for self‐help community development in Agua Prieta, Sonora. The first is U.S.‐based, church‐led charity in two forms: “forays,” which bring outreach groups to disadvantaged barrios of the city for very brief periods; and more consistent charity provision via Evangelical Protestant churches. The second is the drug trade, which exacerbates a social climate of accumulation, competition, and personal enrichment. The study analyzes charity and drugs together under the rubric of new patron‐client ties that both reflect and reinforce the culture of neoliberalism on the border. The article closes with a brief account of an alternative model for development which seeks to avoid the traps of dependency on charity, drugs, and the state: a subsistence‐ and sustainability‐oriented permaculture model of development that would enhance security and community cohesion through food production, resource conservation, and affordable green housing.