Violence, Security and the State in the U.S.-Mexican Border Context.

Borders have historically served the purpose of defining the modern nation-state, delineating the territorial extent of its monopoly on the means of coercion and establishing the boundaries of national identity. Yet, borders are also a protective buffer at the fringes of the state, and a zone of ambiguity where state authority is frequently challenged. In times of war, particularly, borders become strategic bulwarks for national defense against intrusion, an epidermal layer that insulates the state’s core and demonstrates the state’s capacity to use and defend itself against violence. Even in times of peace, however, borderlands frequently suffer from violence, insecurity, and lawlessness because the states coercive authority and control are constantly challenged and subverted by transnational forces. This paper uses the U.S.-Mexican border experience to examine the theoretical dimensions of the state in relation to its borders, and the ways in which border violence and security challenges illustrate the manifestations and limits of state power. This paper pays special attention to U.S. and Mexican responses to violence amidst the heightened security concerns of the post-9/11 context and invigorated Mexican efforts in the war on drugs. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]