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Rating: 
Summary: Out-of-date and flawed analysis of the U.S.-Mexican border
Review: Although I used this text in my Border Issues class for one semester, several years ago, I quickly discarded it. Stripped to its base, Martinez's topology of border society rests on an unreconstructed version of Wallerstein's core/periphery theory of development, with societies of the advanced industrial nations at the core and those of the Third World at the periphery. Global flows of Third World economic migrants have made sections of the "core," such as Los Angeles, almost indistinguish- able from Guadlajara or Mexico City, while massive programs of technology transfer to hi-tech, low-wage maquiladoras have rendered dichtomies of early World Systems categories moot. So, to build a conceptualization of a rapidly changing and expanding border area (bodies, telecommunications and infrastructure) around obsolete theoretical assumptions invites problems. And the limits of the book are shaped by such problems.
Rating: 
Summary: A Border Classic
Review: Granted this book is highly original in its conceptualization, methodology, and presentation; Dr. Martinez is well known for his research on the borderlands. What I liked best were the typologies of different border types of people and their oral history interviews. The reader meets some of the most colorful folks imaginable. For me the most memorable character is "Father Rad," a truly genuine servant of God whose sincerety and outgoing nature helped him to overcome classic cultural barriers on the border. It's a "must read" for any one interested in learning more about the border experience.
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Summary: Colorful Real-Life Stories
Review: Granted this book is highly original in its conceptualization, methodology, and presentation; Dr. Martinez is well known for his research on the borderlands. What I liked best were the typologies of different border types of people and their oral history interviews. The reader meets some of the most colorful folks imaginable. For me the most memorable character is "Father Rad," a truly genuine servant of God whose sincerety and outgoing nature helped him to overcome classic cultural barriers on the border. It's a "must read" for any one interested in learning more about the border experience.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent interpretation of border life.
Review: I have lived on the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez border for over 30 years and have many friends in both countries. I find Dr. Martinez' interpretations very helpful in my day-to-day professional activities, especially in binational relations. I understand that, apart from academics, other groups such as health professionals and clergy use this book for their borderwide training. I recommend this book to anyone who really wants to understand the border.
Rating: 
Summary: Explanation of what BORDER PEOPLE is about.
Review: It is totally wrong to characterize this book as "an unreconstructed version of Wallerstein's core/periphery theory of development." My models are not based on Wallerstein or anyone else. They are unique and original, based on two decades of field work and hundreds of interviews. Wallerstein does not even appear in the bibliography. There is a footnote which makes reference to world systems and dependency theories, but this is only to provide information for readers. I use the terms "core" and "periphery" to illustrate levels of involvement in the border economic/cultural/social system. This conceptualization has nothing to do with Wallerstein, et. al. In essence, BORDER PEOPLE dilineates the way of life in the binational communities that straddle the U.S.-Mexico boundary. Part I considers general models of borderlands interaction, introduces the concept of a "borderlands milieu," and provides a historical and contemporary overview of the region. Part II presents typologies of the three major groups in the region, Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Anglo Americans. Part III focuses on the "border experience" as interpreted by migrants, workers, functionaries, activists, and "mixers," or people who live in multiple cultural worlds. The book demonstrates that borderlanders live in a frontier environment that is fundamentally different from that of people from central areas. At the center of that environment are "core borderlanders," or individuals who are deeply immersed in bilingualism, biculturalism, and transnationalism. Such people personify a growing social category in interdependent and integrated borderlands around the globe. Uniculturalists with a national (rather than transnational) orientation are on the "periphery"! of the border system
Rating:
Summary: A Border Classic
Review: This is a very thoughtful interpretation of border culture. The author is a product of the border himself and is intimately familiar with the dynamics of relationships among many types of people on both sides of the border. Those seeking conceptual and theoretical insights about border peoples in general will find plenty of provocative ideas here. This is destined to become a classic.
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