Regional State configuration: The mercantile order and interpretive community on the Mexico-Guatemala border

We offer an ethnographic description of the circulation of vegetables on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. These goods move from one country to the other through ant-style piecemeal trafficking on misdirected paths: they enter constantly as contraband in small quantities, using tolerated bord...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rojas Pérez, Hugo Saúl, Fletes Ocón, Héctor Bernabé
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
Repositorio:Estudios Fronterizos
Idioma:español
inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.localhost:article/582
Acceso en línea:https://ref.uabc.mx/ojs/index.php/ref/article/view/582
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:border commercial
local order
interpretative community
empirical construction of the State
Mexico-Guatemala border
Social Sciences
Economy
Price
Competition
International cooperation
Commerce
Commercial geography
Government
Public administration
International relations
Comercio fronterizo
orden local
comunidad interpretativa
construcción empírica del Estado
frontera México-Guatemala
Ciencias sociales
Economía
Precio
Competencia
La cooperación internacional
Comercio
Geografía comercial
Gobierno
Administración pública
Relaciones internacionales
Descripción
Sumario:We offer an ethnographic description of the circulation of vegetables on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. These goods move from one country to the other through ant-style piecemeal trafficking on misdirected paths: they enter constantly as contraband in small quantities, using tolerated border crossings. The objective is to show how the interactions between the border actors involved construct a local order that is different from that of the State's normative parameters. An order is founded on a series of unwritten rules that govern the practices of crossing, thereby creating an "interpretive community." This paper clarifies why the operating personnel from different levels of the Mexican government charged with overseeing trade are not outside of this community but rather compose an important part of it and how the State is empirically constructed within it, starting from the idea that the State is not an all-encompassing and coherent entity.