Search results

We explore how the reception of remittances affects perceptions of the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States. Scholars have claimed that the economic benefits of the relationship with the US prevail over imperialistic concerns as a result of the asymmetry of power between the two countries. Empirical research shows that Latin American public opinion is indeed more supportive of the US than theory indicates. However, we identify two gaps in this literature. First, scholars have explored the determinants of generic expressions of sentiment toward the US, overlooking more concrete instances of cooperation between the two countries. Second, scholars have focused on trade and investment and have ignored how the material gains of emigration shape attitudes toward the US. The present paper fills these two gaps by using novel survey data on the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the US. On one hand, we find that while the reception of remittances correlates positively with good sentiments toward the US, the recipients of remittances are consistently more opposed to cooperation with the US in the fight against drug trafficking. We argue that this finding can be explained by the different nature of the migratory phenomenon, and the connection between anti-drug trafficking policies and the close scrutiny of illegal flows of money and people.

The 'American Girl' this paper considers is Helen Wills, the top-ranked women's tennis player from 1927 to 1934. Wills was the subject of numerous narrative and visual representations as well as many self-representations in both words and images. Reading Wills in the context of Henry James's Daisy Miller and the popular magazine Gibson Girl, the paper considers the mechanisms by which national symbols are constructed. In particular, it examines the ways in which Wills's style of playing, her clothes, and even her facial expression came to signify a particular version of modern, American femininity (in contrast to that of opponents such as Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Jacobs). It also explores her identity as a white Californian, a neo-classical girl next door, who appealed to Nativists like James Phelan and Gertrude Atherton and whom Diego Rivera placed at the centre of 1931 Allegory of California. In short, Helen Wills proved both a very flexible American symbol and a global celebrity.

This edited collection is only the second academic publication dedicated solely to Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the "Left Turn" regional project founded by Venezuela and Cuba in 2004 and since expanded to Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and much of the Anglophone Caribbean. As ALBA celebrates its first decade, this book offers a considered, critical, and comprehensive account of the project. This work provides insights into all manner of unanswered questions: among others, the roles and involvement of member-states both central and peripheral; the nature of ALBA governance; the sustainability of the project; its effect on domestic politics; and the true nature and extent of specific initiatives. Bringing together scholars from across ideological divides, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of ALBA's successes and failures, evaluating the project's viability and mapping possible future trajectories. The opacity of ALBA and its member-states, and the perplexing lack of research into ALBA despite its significance, makes the contribution of this edited volume a particularly valuable one