The Borderlands of Authoritarianism

Author(s):  
Jennifer Harford Vargas

Chapter 2 teases out the fraught links between authoritarianism, authority, and authorship, using Salvador Plascencia’s The People of Paper. The characters stage a revolution against the author of their world, whom they accuse of controlling the plots of their lives and using omniscient narration to profit from their stories. In contrast to the author-as-god analogy, the chapter explores the analogy of the author-as-dictator. The layout of the novel formally reflects the effects of surveillance and visually depicts the struggle against the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and the exploitation of undocumented migrants. The novel grapples with the problem of defending the rights of agricultural laborers and people without papers in the pages of a novel that circulates as a commodity and poses questions about possible alternative economic and narrative ethics that could be used in the service of social and narrative justice. The chapter ultimately wrestles with the contradiction that writing, which is as a form of power and violence, is used to resist repressive power.

Author(s):  
Jimmy Patiño

The Conclusion is a brief analysis of how the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) both conceded to and fragmented the Chicano/Mexicano immigrant rights mobilizations facilitated in part by the CCR. Signed by a Republican, it was the first mass amnesty act revealing the influence of the human rights components of Chicano/Mexicano organizing that activists in San Diego had taken part in formulating beginning in the late 1960s. Yet the act also marginalized the abolitionist position of the movement, giving concessions by providing amnesty to a subsection of undocumented migrants, while further militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border. The chapter concludes with an analysis of two divergent responses by Chicano/Mexicano activists o the new law: those who invested their energies in politicizing and assisting undocumented migrants who qualified for the amnesty provisions of IRCA by working with immigration state mechanisms and other activists who continued to criticize the “carrot and stick” immigration policies and maintain the call to abolish immigration state apparatuses.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryce Clayton Newell ◽  
Ricardo Gomez ◽  
Verónica E. Guajardo

This paper presents findings from an exploratory qualitative study of the experiences and perceptions of undocumented (irregular) migrants to the United States with various forms of surveillance in the borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico. Based on fieldwork conducted primarily in a migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, we find that migrants generally have a fairly sophisticated understanding about U.S. Border Patrol surveillance and technology use and that they consciously engage in forms of resistance or avoidance. Heightened levels of border surveillance may be deterring a minority of migrants from attempting immediate future crossings, but most interviewees were undeterred in their desire to enter the U.S., preferring to find ways to avoid government surveillance. Furthermore, migrants exhibit a general lack of trust in the “promise” of technology to improve their circumstances and increase their safety during clandestine border-crossing—often due to fears that technology use makes them vulnerable to state surveillance, tracking, and arrest.


2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
David L. Wilson

Anyone who really wants to understand U.S. immigration policy needs to read the brief history of the U.S.-Mexico border in Aviva Chomsky's often-brilliant new book on immigration.&hellip; Politicians constantly tell us we have lost control of the border. In fact, as <em>Undocumented</em> demonstrates, never in the 166 years since the border was established by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo has it been so tightly controlled as it is now. For nearly half its history it was exactly the thing immigration opponents say they fear most&mdash;an open border. The first serious restrictions did not come until a head tax and a literacy requirement were imposed in 1917, and even then there was an exemption for Mexican workers, the people most likely to enter the country from the south.&hellip; The United States wanted this labor for a reason: it was cheap and disposable.<p class="mrlink"><p class="mrpurchaselink"><a href="http://monthlyreview.org/index/volume-67-number-5" title="Vol. 67, No. 5: October 2015" target="_self">Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the <em>Monthly Review</em> website.</a></p>


Author(s):  
Gary J. Adler

Gary J. Adler, Jr.’s chapter argues that in discussions about undocumented immigration, progressive religious organizations and actors employ a style of “formal neutrality,” which allows them to represent “all sides” of this contentious debate and protect their “non-partisan” status. Based on participant observation with BorderLinks, a transnational organization that leads weeklong immersion trips across the U.S.-Mexico border as part of its strategy of “raising awareness, inspiring action” against the injustices done to undocumented migrants, immigrant communities, and border cities, the chapter finds that this “neutral” style of talk may not generate the activism that its practitioners hope, since it fails to fully connect the experiences of participants with narratives of injustice or pathways to potential action.


This research article focuses on the theme of violence and its representation by the characters of the novel “This Savage Song” by Victoria Schwab. How violence is transmitted through genes to next generations and to what extent socio- psycho factors are involved in it, has also been discussed. Similarly, in what manner violent events and deeds by the parents affect the psychology of children and how it inculcates aggressive behaviour in their minds has been studied. What role is played by the parents in grooming the personality of children and ultimately their decisions to choose the right or wrong way has been argued. In the light of the theory of Judith Harris, this research paper highlights all the phenomena involved: How the social hierarchy controls the behaviour. In addition, the aggressive approach of the people in their lives has been analyzed in the light of the study of second theorist Thomas W Blume. As the novel is a unique representation of supernatural characters, the monsters, which are the products of some cruel deeds, this research paper brings out different dimensions of human sufferings with respect to these supernatural beings. Moreover, the researcher also discusses that, in what manner the curse of violence creates an inevitable vicious cycle of cruel monsters that makes the life of the characters turbulent and miserable.


ATAVISME ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-116
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rosyid H.W.

Penelitian ini bertujuan membahas hubungan intertekstual novel Candra Kirana karya Ajip Rosidi dengan "Tjerita Panji Angreni". Unsur apa saja dan bagaimana novel Candra Kirana memiliki hubungan intertekstual dengan "Tjerita Panji Angreni' sebagai teks hipogramnya adalah pertanyaan penelitian ini. Dalam menelaah hubungan intertekstual ini, penulis menggunakan teori intertekstual Michael Riffaterre yang menitikberatkan pada analisis isi dengan metode pembacaan heuristik dan hermeneutik. Temuan penelitian ini adalah bahwa novel Candra Kirana menunjukkan hubungan intertekstual dengan Tjerita Panji Angreni melalui unsur tema, citra tokoh, dan alur cerita. Meskipun demikian, novel Candra Kirana juga mentransformasikan makna-makna progresif yang berbeda dengan "Tjerita Panji Angreni", seperti makna nasionalisme yang berupa cinta akan kerajaan, makna kesetaraan gender yang berupa kesetiaan laki-laki, keberanian, kekuatan, perjuangan dan ketidakpasrahan perempuan, makna kerakyatan dengan pelibatan tokoh utama dari kalangan rakyat dan makna religiusitas yang berbentuk dasar niat Panji dalam mencari pasangan hidup.[Intertextuality on Novel Candra Kirana and "Tjerita Panji Angreni": Riffaterres Perspective] This research aims to discuss the intertextuality of Candra Kirana novel by Ajip Rosidi with "Tjerita Panji Angreni". What elements and to what extend Candra Kirana novel has an intertextual relationship with Tjerita Panji Angreni as the hipogram text were the questions of this research. In examining this intertextual relationship, the writer used Michael Riffaterre's intertextual theory which focused on content analysis with heuristic and hermeneutic readings. The findings of this study were that the novel Candra Kirana showed intertextuality with the "Tjerita Panji Angreni" through elements of themes, character images, and story lines. Even so, Candra Kirana's novel also transformed progressive meanings that differ from the Tjerita Panji Angreni such as the meaning of nationalism in the form of love for the kingdom, the meaning of gender equality in the form of male loyalty, courage, strength, struggle and women's insecurity, the meaning of populist with engagement the main character of the people and the meaning of religiosity in the form of Panji's intention in finding a life partner.Keywords: intertextuality; novel; "Tjerita Panji Angreni"


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 469-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhagyashri Vijay Chaudhari ◽  
Priya P. Chawle

“A lesson learned the hard way is a lesson learned for a lifetime.” Every bad situation hurts; however, it sure does teach us something a lesson. In the same manner of a new lesson for Human lifetime, history is observing 'The Novel COVID-19 ’, a very horrible and strange situation created due to fighting with a microscopic enemy. WHO on 11 February 2020 has announced a name for new disease as - 19 and has declared as a global public health emergency and subsequently as pandemic because of its widespread. This began as an outbreak in December 2019, with its in Wuhan, the People Republic of China has emerged as a public health emergency of international concern. is the group of a virus with non-segmented, single-stranded and positive RNA genome. This bad situation of pandemic creates new scenes in the life of people in a different manner, which will be going to be life lessons for them. Such lessons should be kept in mind for the safety of living beings and many more things. In this narrative review article, reference was taken from a different article published in various databases which include the view of different authors and writers on the &quot;Lessons to be from Corona&quot;.


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