Spaces of fear : bodies walls cities

Abstract

This book is based on four North American case studies: from the uppermiddle-class residents of Mexican gated communities and the young voluntary risk-takers in Montreal, to the comforting performance of walls in Mexico City and the uncanny dangers of the 9/11 dust in New York City. Each vignette tells a story where fear plays a central role, locally specic yet continentally connected. Indeed, as the illustrated reections of Rita Ponce de León show, dust, walls, bodies, waste, and atmospheres play similar roles in the four vignettes. We explore these material actors together as they function across the “territory” or the common ground of “North America.” We understand this region as a sociohistorical and legal construction, as well as an area subdivided by national regulations, cultural histories, institutions, and agents.