Dr. Sara DiazWGST 202: Gender, Difference, and PowerGonzaga University

Pollution, Migration, Population

Gloria Anzaldúa

•What is she arguing? What is her thesis?•What is the historical relationship between

Mexican people and the Border?•What role does violence play in her

narrative?•Why does Anzaldua say that Mexican

women are “especially at risk?”

The Border Crossed Us

• “this land was Mexican once, / was Indian always / and is. / And will be again.” – Gloria Anzaldúa• Some people who reside in the Southwestern US and

Northern Mexico have lived there since before the current border was established by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1848. • The region was split resulting in the criminalization of

traditional patterns of movement.• The indigenous people of what is now Northern Mexico

have a legend that their people came from Aztlán (the North) and are destined to return there.

Colonizing Corn

• Impact of policy• Farm subsidies → Over production of corn• We use corn for EVERYTHING

• And in ways that make us sick!• NAFTA allowed cheap corn to flood into Mexico• Local farmers couldn’t compete → MIGRATION

• About Corn• Corn – Staple of indigenous

diets• Genetically Modified• Reduced diversity of varieties• Monoculutre →

Environmental degradation

Remittances to Mexico

Response QuestionResponse Question

•What are some connections between reproductive justice and environmental justice?

•What are the links between population and environment?

Globalization Everyday• Option A:• Pick an item you have with you. Where did it come from? Whose

hands have touched it? What exploitations are embedded in it? IMAGINE. How could you resist or undermine those exploitations.

• Write a poem, collectively, about how we can resist the exploitation embedded in the products we consume.

• Group B:• Identify the forces of globalization on our campus. Where does

Gonzaga fit in the system of global capital? What resources do we take for granted here that might be causing human and environmental suffering elsewhere? How does it make you feel?

• Write a poem, collectively, about the impact of Gonzaga’s global economic/environmental footprint, designed to encourage action on the part of your classmates.