Walking the Migrant Trail: Mobilizing Landscape to Contest Border Enforcement Policies and Negotiate the Boundaries of Social Belonging

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Contested Landscapes: The Archaeology of Politics, Borders, and Movement" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents an archaeological ethnography of the Migrant Trail and a very recent past associated with the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. Composed primarily of U.S. citizens, the Migrant Trail is a seven-day walk that protests U.S. immigration and border enforcement policies and commemorates migrants who died in their attempt to cross the Sonoran Desert. Using a critical heritage studies perspective, I explore what role landscape plays in remembering migrants, coming to terms with violent government policies, and re-bordering the boundaries of social belonging as they apply to migrants. Understanding how members of receiving democratic societies mobilize landscape to negotiate the meaning of national boundaries and protest violence is crucial if we are to work towards a more just future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Contested Landscapes: The Archaeology of Politics, Borders, and Movement   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25132