Tijuana es Historia de Familias: Working Class Place Makers and a Global Sense of Place in the 20th Century

Date of Award

Spring 1-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

American Studies

First Advisor

Barraclough, Laura

Abstract

Tijuana is home to multiple identities, visions for the future, and placemaking processes. “Tijuana es Historia de Familias: Working Class Place Makers and a Global Sense of Place in the 20th Century” is a social history in which I examine how workers and everyday people shaped the development of Tijuana’s political economy, physical space, and culture from 1890 to 1994. In a city that is a passageway to other places, I show that people “anchored,” or grounded themselves locally, through their work, civic engagement, and cultural productions. Therefore, I argue that their modes of anchoring led to the production of Tijuana as a place and a global city. As working-class people anchored in Tijuana it became a ‘place,’ not just a space to pass through. Still, the city’s transitory culture became a core part of its urban identity. The everyday actions, mobilities, and perspectives of people across class, race, and gender shaped Tijuana’s “global sense of place” as it transitioned from a small rancho to the border metropolis it is today.

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