From South Texas to the Nation - (The David J. Weber the New Borderlands History) by John Weber (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In the early years of the twentieth century, newcomer farmers and migrant Mexicans forged a new world in South Texas. In just a decade, this vast region, previously considered too isolated and desolate for large-scale agriculture, became one of the United States' most lucrative farming regions and one of its worst places to work. By encouraging mass migration from Mexico, paying low wages, selectively enforcing immigration restrictions, toppling older political arrangements, and periodically immobilizing the workforce, growers created a system of labor controls unique in its levels of exploitation.

Ethnic Mexican residents of South Texas fought back by organizing and by leaving, migrating to destinations around the United States where employers eagerly hired them -- and continued to exploit them. In From South Texas to the Nation, John Weber reinterprets the United States' record on human and labor rights. This important book illuminates the way in which South Texas pioneered the low-wage, insecure, migration-dependent labor system on which so many industries continue to depend.

Review Quotes

"[An] innovative and much-needed examination of south Texas norms. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the study of work and workers in the United States, guest worker programs, Chicano history, immigrant and Mexican American rights, and the study of Mexican American culture in the borderlands."--Journal of American History

"An approachable and chronologically ambitious book about the exploitation of Mexican labor in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the present." -- Southwestern Historical Quarterly

"Contributes to understanding the histories of labor and racial relations in Texas, the Mexican American world, and the US." -- CHOICE

"Texas finally finds its Victor Hugo and John Steinbeck -- in the halls of the academy." -- Texas Monthly

"To understand, from a historical perspective, why comprehensive immigration reform is a dishonest possibility, From South Texas to the Nation is a must read." -- Western Historical Quarterly

"Turns a penetrating historical eye on the cultural heritage of South Texas." -- Austin American-Statesman

"Unquestionably deserves a wide readership. . . . Weber's analysis [is] useful and perhaps indispensable." -- Texas Books in Review