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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Ciudad de la memoria y ciudad del olvido: Changes in the Everyday Life of Tijuana’s Working Class Under Neoliberalism 1964-2014 A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Latin American Studies by Daniel Alejandro Magaña Gutiérrez Committee in charge: Professor Rosaura Sánchez, Chair Professor Christine Hunefeldt Professor Curtis Marez 2015 Signature page The Thesis of Daniel Alejandro Magaña Gutiérrez is approved and is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2015 iii EPIGRAPH En estas desolaciones, padre, donde de tu risa sólo quedaban restos arqueológicos. - Roberto Bolaño En todo caso, el futuro parecía que iba resultar mucho mejor. Por lo menos el futuro tenía la ventaja de no ser el presente, siempre hay un mejor para lo que es malo. Pero no había en ella miseria humana. Es que tenía en si misma cierta frescura de flor. - Clarice Lispector Nací para deber problemas sin resolver duermo para soñar mi ciudad en llamas. - San Pedro El Cortez We decided not to look this over any longer. - Frantz Fanon iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature page .................................................................................................. iii Epigraph............................................................................................................iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................. v Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... vii Abstract of Thesis .............................................................................................ix Introduction: The Importance of Tijuana and it’s Becoming a Global City ............ 1 Defining Neoliberalism ...................................................................................... 5 Neoliberalism and Space .................................................................................. 7 Neoliberalism and the Working Class ............................................................... 9 Neoliberalism and Everyday Life ..................................................................... 15 The Right to the City ....................................................................................... 19 Study Significance & Purpose of Study ........................................................... 21 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................... 22 Review of Literature ........................................................................................ 23 Interviews ........................................................................................................ 28 Analysis of Tijuana in Literature (and other texts) ........................................... 29 Structure of Text ............................................................................................. 30 Chapter 1: Tijuana Chica .................................................................................... 31 1.1 The Early Years Through the Roaring Twenties ....................................... 31 1.2 The End of la Tijuana Chica: 1930-1975 ................................................... 37 1.3 Everyday Life in “la Tijuana Chica”: 1930-1975 ........................................ 48 1.3.1 Work ................................................................................................... 49 1.3.2 Union Work ......................................................................................... 53 1.3.3 Leisure ................................................................................................ 59 1.3.4 The Border ......................................................................................... 61 1.3.5 Tijuana’s Centro and Gender ............................................................. 63 1.3.6 Political Life and the Federal Government .......................................... 69 Chapter 2: The Crisis in Tijuana, 1974 —1982 ................................................... 73 2.1 The Global Economy................................................................................. 74 2.2 Tijuana in the Crisis .................................................................................. 82 2.3 Everyday Life in Tijuana During the Devaluations ..................................... 87 2.3.1 Change of Currency ........................................................................... 87 2.3.2 Migration ............................................................................................. 90 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 92 Chapter 3: Tijuana as Neoliberal Boomtown, 1982 – 2014 ................................ 95 3.1 Social and Spatial History ......................................................................... 97 3.2 Everyday Life Under Actually Existing Neoliberalism .............................. 116 3.2.1 Work ................................................................................................. 119 3.2.2 Leisure .............................................................................................. 144 v 3.3. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 146 Chapter 4: Tijuana’s Black Mirrors: Everyday Violence in Neoliberalism .......... 147 4.1 Everyday Life for Migrant Deportees ....................................................... 148 4.2 Narco Criminal Organization as Neoliberal Counter-Power .................... 158 4.3 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 172 Chapter 5: Conclusion ...................................................................................... 174 Appendix A ....................................................................................................... 176 Appendix B ....................................................................................................... 178 References ....................................................................................................... 179 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is of course impossible to thank everyone, as this work, like every other, is a social product. That said, I must first and foremost thank all those people who gave me the time to speak to them about their city. I must, of course, thank my committee who guided this work. Rosaura, thanks so much for all the times I invaded your office just to ramble normally. Christine, thanks so much for seeing something of value back when I was a green undergrad. Curtis, thanks for all those wonderful works you showed me, as well as the best pizza in town. That said, I must thank my loving wife, Antje, who had to endure too many of my endless questions on a balcony in San Diego and a patio in Tijuana. Thank you so much. This work is as much yours as mine. Let’s do some living after I die (at my defense). I also want thank my parents, who had to endure the other end of the many questions I’ve formulated over the years, mostly in the form of frustration and anger. My brothers, thank you for everything. I must seem crazy to you both. Thank you, to the group of friends that introduced me to my natal city: Bernardo, Amaranta, Erick, Genesis, and Vidal — ¿aún existe una mesa donde todos nos podemos reír? Thank you, to my beloved comrades — Justin, Kevan, and Pablo. You all have been instrumental in my political and analytical development. vii Thanks to my other comrade, Susana, your help has been a cornerstone of this project. Thanks to Beatrice. I’m gonna miss talking to you at the end of my weeks. I also have to thank Bolaño. Had it not been for him, I would be studying English literature, likely sipping a damned latte in San Francisco. In short: gracias a la vida. viii ABSTRACT OF THESIS Ciudad de la memoria y ciudad del olvido: Changes in the Everyday Life of Tijuana’s Working Class Under Neoliberalism 1964-2014 by Daniel Alejandro M. Gutiérrez Master of Arts in Latin American Studies University of California, San Diego 2015 Professor Rosaura Sánchez This work seeks to examine changes in the everyday life of Tijuana’s working class under neoliberalism. To do so, the text first examines the everyday life of the working class prior to neoliberalism, investigating everyday life through interviews and literature, and contextualizing these accounts in spatial, social, ix and economic developments. Following such, the everyday life of the working class under neoliberalism is investigated by conducting interviews, analyzing literature, and participant observation, again contextualizing along similar fields. Tijuana’s population boom and urban development are attributed to the wide- scale disenfranchisement that was the result of neoliberal restructuring. Caught in a global production network, the everyday life of working-class people in Tijuana is largely determined by such globality. Informality, social abandonment, and criminality are the result of actual existing neoliberalism. x Introduction: The Importance of Tijuana and it’s Becoming a Global City “The struggle of man [sic] against power is the struggle