Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados: Class and Culture on the South Texas Border

by Chad Richardson, Michael J. Pisani

Overview

This updated edition of the classic study examines life on the Texas-Mexico border, including the effects of NAFTA, drug violence, and immigration crises.

Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados offers an authoritative portrait of the people of the South Texas/Northern Mexico borderlands. First published in 1999, the book is now extensively revised and updated to cover developments since 2000, including undocumented immigration, the drug wars, race relations, growing social inequality, and the socioeconomic gap between Latinos and the rest of American society—issues of vital and continuing national importance.

An outgrowth of the Borderlife Research Project conducted at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados uses the voices of several hundred Valley residents, collected by embedded student researchers and backed by the findings of sociological surveys, to describe the lives of migrant farmworkers, colonia residents, undocumented domestic servants, maquiladora workers, and Mexican street children.

This wide-ranging study explores social, racial, and ethnic relations in South Texas among groups such as Latinos, Mexican immigrants, wealthy Mexican visitors, Anglo residents or tourists, and Asian and African American residents. With extensive firsthand material, the book addresses the future integration of Latinos into the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477312711
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	02/24/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	433
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

CHAD RICHARDSON is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His previous books include On the Edge of the Law: Culture, Labor, and Deviance on the South Texas Border, coauthored with Rosalva Resendiz.MICHAEL J. PISANI is a professor of international business at Central Michigan University. He coauthored The Informal and Underground Economy of the South Texas Border with Chad Richardson.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I. Ranking and Class Inequality
  • Chapter 1. Migrant Farmworkers (with Juanita Valdez Cox)
  • Chapter 2. The Colonias of South Texas (with David Arizmendi)
  • Chapter 3. “Only a Maid”: Undocumented Domestic Workers in South Texas
  • Chapter 4. Social Inequality on the Mexican Side of the Border
  • Conclusion to Part I: Social Class on the South Texas–Northern Mexico Border
• Part II. Racial and Ethnic Inequality
  • Chapter 5. The Pain of Gain: South Texas Schools Then and Now (with Daniel P. King)
  • Chapter 6. From Mexicanos to Mexican Americans to Americans? (with Chrystell Flota)
  • Chapter 7. “Ahí Viene el Bolillo!”: Anglos in South Texas (with Jenny Chamberlain)
  • Chapter 8. Race and Ethnicity in South Texas
  • Conclusion to Part II: The Interaction of Race, Class, and Ethnicity
• Epilogue: The Strength and Resilience of People of the South Texas Border (with John Sargent)
• Appendix A. Borderlife Survey Research Projects Utilized in This Volume
• Appendix B. Students Who Contributed Ethnographic Accounts
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

What People are Saying About This

Rogelio Saenz

"This book demonstrates the richness of the interethnic mosaic characterizing the Valley of South Texas.... By giving voice to local residents, Professor Richardson has amassed a valuable stock of knowledge concerning life along the Texas-Mexican border that is sorely missing in the extant literature."

Rogelio Saenz

This book demonstrates the richness of the interethnic mosaic characterizing the Valley of South Texas.... By giving voice to local residents, Professor Richardson has amassed a valuable stock of knowledge concerning life along the Texas-Mexican border that is sorely missing in the extant literature.
-- Rogelio Saenz, Professor and Head of Sociology, Texas A&M University