Description:
Border Rhetorics: Citizenship and Identity on the US-Mexico Frontier brings together leading scholars to examine one of the most contested and symbolically powerful spaces in contemporary society. Through innovative studies of rhetoric, law, media, public policy, culture, and identity, this volume explores how the U.S.-Mexico border functions not merely as a geographic boundary but as a potent site for constructing ideas of citizenship, belonging, exclusion, and national identity. The contributors investigate the ways borders are imagined, represented, enforced, and experienced, revealing how political discourse, legal frameworks, media narratives, and cultural practices shape public understandings of immigration and community. By highlighting the complex interplay between power, identity, and place, this timely collection offers essential insights for scholars and readers interested in border studies, communication, immigration, Latino studies, political rhetoric, and contemporary social issues.
Review Quotes:
"This engaging collection of essays explores the discursive power of 'the border' in the US national imaginary. Border Rhetorics details the consequences of the border as a site of domination and resistance, pointing to its rhetorical power to constitute identities and shape political landscapes." --Jeffrey A. Bennett, author of Banning Queer Blood: Rhetorics of Citizenship, Contagion, and Resistance