Postborder City: Cultural Spaces of Bajalta California

The vast metropolis stretching from Los Angeles in the north to Tijuana and Mexicali in the south heralds a new form -- the postborder city. Comprised of both Baja California (Mexico) and Alta California (Southern California), "Bajalta California" is now a milieu of constantly shifting and intersecting geographies, economies, and cultures. While cross-border exchange has existed for well over a century, in recent years the accelerating currents of cultural and economic globalization have hastened the emergence of this transnational megalopolis. Postborder City is an interdisciplinary investigation of the hybrid culture on both sides of the increasingly fluid U.S-Mexico border, spanning the disciplines of art, film studies, art history, urban planning, geography, and Latina/o and American studies.

Michael Dear is Professor of Geography and Director of the Southern California Studies Center at the University of Southern California. Gustavo Leclerc is partner and founding member of ADOBE LA (Artists, Architects and Designers Opening the Border Edge of Los Angeles) since 1992, and Director of the Border Cultures Project at USC's Southern California Studies Center.