Applied anthropology in the Mexico-United States borderlands: Comparative perspectives on transborder process

This issue of Human Organization is the result of the transborder conference Cultura y Comunidad held in Ensenada, Mexico (2014). Stemming from the "world-wide" incentive and trajectory of the SfAA, and the growing interest in "Applied Anthropology" in Mexico, Mexican and United States institutions joined with the SfAA in a collaborative conference to explore transborder themes affecting individuals and communities, social process, and social justice from the perspectives of transborder anthropologies. Applied vs. Activist anthropology and differences in Mexican and United States anthropology are explored. The conference proposed acknowledging the regional, transnational/transborder - the Southwest North America and Northern Mexico as a geographic and fluid human entity. Gender, indigeneity, education, health and cancer treatment, monetary exchange, violence, and ethnic representation are discussed from both Mexican and United States transborder perspectives. A principal goal is to engage "world anthropologies" in dialogue and collaboration while challenging anthropology's western hegemonic structure.