A New Kind of Company Town: Extractive Industry and Security in the U.S.-Mexico Borderland

In the early 20th century, the copper mining industry dominated the economy and social relations of the Arizona-Mexico border region. Today, a new kind of extractive economy—defined by various border security industries—dominates. Border Patrol, defense contractors, construction companies, and others constitute a powerful new industry that drives political agendas and dominates social relations. For over a century, border residents have lived with extractive industries that work to order landscapes and control communities. Then as now, border residents embrace, accommodate, and resist extraction in its many forms.

Scott Warren is a cultural geographer, academic, and volunteer with humanitarian aid organizations at the Mexico-US border. He lives and works in the town of Ajo, Arizona, which is located in the O’odham-Sonora-Arizona borderland.