ABSTRACT
Since the 1994 passage of NAFTA, social movement activism at the United States-Mexico border has increased many times over. Mexican farmers cannot afford to grow food on their land to meet their economic survival needs. They follow the flow of jobs and products north where they meet a highly fortified US-Mexico border. Peacebuilding is a complex, multi-layered process working on many levels to eliminate structural violence. Critical race theorists contend that an entrenched system of white power and dominance undergird North American society. Cultural norms valuing productivity and professionalism drive meeting spaces, movement organizing, and the relationships and perceptions of people involved in border justice work. Tokenism plays out in the Border Justice Movement as racialized persons receive differential treatment, are treated as special or as outsiders, and are consulted at the last moment. Racialized leaders also face the possibility of cultural and identity dislocation, situations when they feel silenced and/or repercussions for advocating for structural change.
