Life, Death, and In-Between on the U.S.-Mexico Border: Asi es la vida

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Description

Loustaunau and Snchez-Bane combine their many years of association and collaboration dealing with health issues in the U.S.-Mexico border area, to bring together a series of chapters illustrating that as es la vida, that's life, need not indicate a fatalistic acceptance that poverty, sickness, misery, and misfortune must be taken in stride. The authors of the chapters have researched, studied, worked with, or have been borderlanders themselves. The chapters focus on the impact of the social structure, and on the power and determination of people to change their conditions for the better, increasing their choices and enlarging their worlds. They look beyond political and economic barriers to find the spark in the human spirit that must be identified and nurtured to produce a better life for the benefit of peoples and nations on both sides of the border, and to nourish the third culture as a bridge between nations. The authors note the dangers and pitfalls along the way, and the need for more realistic policies and programs to empower people to define their own problems, and to participate in fashioning the solutions.

Reviews

[T]hese papers deserve full attention, and the contributors deserve congratulations.-Multicultural Review
This thought-provoking book belongs in academic and public libraries alike. It provides the reader with a greater understanding of the medical needs and issues faced by people who live along the border, in addition to some of the benefits that life along the border provides to its residents.-Risk: Health, Safety &Environment
"These papers deserve full attention, and the contributors deserve congratulations."-Multicultural Review
"[T]hese papers deserve full attention, and the contributors deserve congratulations."-Multicultural Review
"This thought-provoking book belongs in academic and public libraries alike. It provides the reader with a greater understanding of the medical needs and issues faced by people who live along the border, in addition to some of the benefits that life along the border provides to its residents."-Risk: Health, Safety &Environment

Author Bio

MARTHA OEHMKE LOUSTAUNAU is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at New Mexico State University. MARY SNCHEZ-BANE, now deceased, was a health educator who worked with the U.S. Mexico Border Health Association in El Paso, Texas.