The U. S.-Mexican Border as a Research Laboratory

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Abstract
The traditional approach to Latin American studies has been through the historical account, emphasizing specific leaders or epochs of a given Latin American nation in change, based on the assumption, mostly implicit, that each of these events may be considered as a unique phenomenon, subject to individual interpretation. This diachronic approach can well serve as a fruitful point of departure for systematic empirical investigations into border Latin American cultures. The contribution of a generalizing science such as sociology need not be suspected of an abortive rebellion against these established and accepted procedures. Rather, an empirical inquiry into the similarities and differences between border Latin American culture and our own gives a new dimension to the field of Latin American studies previously unavailable. This paper will attempt to illustrate the type of possible contributions of border research by using recent empirical studies.

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