The Children of NAFTA: Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border

Unlike journalists who have made brief excursions into strawberry fields and maquiladoras, Bacon has more than a decade's experience reporting on the ground at the border, and he has developed sustained relationships with scores of workers and organizers who have entrusted him with their stories. He describes harsh conditions of child labour in the Mexicali Valley, the deplorable housing outside factories in cities such as Tijuana, and corporate retaliation faced by union organizers. He finds that, despite the promises of its backers, NAFTA has locked in a harsh neoliberal economic policy that has swept away laws and protections that Mexican workers had established over decades. More than a showcase for NAFTA's victims, this book traces the emergence of a new social consciousness, telling how workers in Mexico, the United States and Canada are now beginning to join together in a powerful new strategy of cross-border organizing as they search for economic and social justice.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; 1. Grapes and Green Onions; 2. Putting Solldarity on the Table; 3. Tijuana's Maquiladora Workers; 4. Han Young; 5. Build a House, Go to Jail; 6. The Strategic Alliance; 7. Duro Means Hard; 8. Mexico's Wars over Privatization; 9. Transplanted Expectations; 10. The World of the Border Has Changed; Epilogue: The Confrontation to Come; Index

About the Author :
David Bacon is a journalist and photographer. He is an associate editor at Pacific News Service and a regular contributor to The Nation, The Progressive, Z, The American Prospect, and the L.A. Weekly. His photographs documenting the lives of the workers discussed in the book were recently exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California as well as in Germany and Great Britain. His work can be seen at http://dbacon.igc.org.

Review :
"An invaluable book for anyone interested in the human mechanics of globalization." - Publishers Weekly "Bacon gets beyond the often demagogical debate and delves deep into the impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement on working people on both sides of the Rio Grande." - Seven Oaks Magazine "An exceptionally well-written, compelling story of struggle and of hope. The book can serve to promote countless discussions regarding neoliberal globalization, class struggle, and the efforts to create a different world for not only the people of the Global South, but those of us in the Global North as well." - Monthly Review"