Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: New Books in Latino Studies
Episode: Omar Valerio-Jimenez, âRiver of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Grande Borderlandsâ (Duke UP, 2013)
Description: Historically speaking, who you were depended on who your rulers were and the ethnic identity (including language, religion, and folkways) of âyourâ people. In the era of nation-statesâthat is, our eraâthese two characteristics have, for most people, been fused. Ethnic Germans live in Germany, ethnic Chinese live in China, ethnic Egyptians live in Egypt. The exceptions to this rule are two: ethnic minorities (e.g., Jews, Kurds, Uyghers, etc.) residing in nation-states and people who live in the shifting borderlands between nation-states.
Omar Valerio-JimĂ©nezâs fascinating book River of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Gr...