Description
Book SynopsisThey live in the suburbs of Tennessee and Indiana. They fought in Vietnam and Desert Storm. They speak about an older, better America, an America that once was, and is no more. And for the past decade, they have come to the U.S. / Mexico border to hunt for illegal immigrants. Who are the Minutemen? Patriots? Racists? Vigilantes? Harel Shapira lived
Trade ReviewWinner of a 2013 Southwest Book Award, Border Regional Library Association "A valuable look at the birth of a populist paramilitary formation, one whose opponents may not dismiss so easily after reading this evenhanded book."--Kirkus Reviews "This fascinating study is an honest, nuanced, and intimate look at not so much a movement but the people who make it happen. Shapira offers enough sociological theory to appeal to sociologists, but his stories of the Minutemen make this work appealing to all who want to understand the movement and immigration issues in general."--Library Journal "Regardless of one's political leanings, this is a promising, accessible book by a first-time academic author who describes the Minutemen he finds as, at heart, the detritus of lost wars and people who are 'afraid of America turning into Mexico.'"--Lee Maril, Times Higher Education "Applying basic principles of ethnographic research, Shapira was interested not so much in what the Minutemen had to say, but what they did and why. In describing, what they wear, what they carry, and how they spend their time, his book has the kind of authenticity that comes from painstaking observation. You can't phone it in. You have to go."--Julia Ann Grimm, Santa Fe New Mexican "Deeply insightful... Reading Waiting for Jose to learn about the mythic Minuteman movement doesn't simply satisfy the sociological curiosity of comprehending anti-immigrant warriors whose heyday may soon be coming to a close. It's also instructive in helping us realize that immigrants are not the only ones finding it difficult to 'assimilate' themselves to a very different America than the one many of us grew up in."--Esther Cepeda, Anchorage Daily News "Although the book will be of specific interest to those with an interest in migration, security, social movements, and masculinities, it invites a much broader readership. Its narrative style and uncomplicated prose make it accessible to a wider public. This, coupled with its accessible length and topical nature, makes it an ideal text for teaching at any level. Undergraduates and graduate students alike will find this a readable, refreshing, and insightful work."--Maryann Bylander, Journal on Migration and Human Security "Shapira, an ethnographer, writes with sensitivity and professional detachment."--John Paul Rathbone, Financial Times "Harel Shapira has crafted a fascinating and insightful account of the complex practices of civic identity in contemporary US society. In all, Waiting for Jose represents a significant contribution to current scholarship on social movements, border rhetorics, and the formation of the US civic imaginary."--D. Robert DeChaine, International Review of Modern Sociology "Shapira explores the Minutemen's varied motivations exceptionally well, even noting the organization's internal conflicts. His sociological explanations are relevant and help to interpret the Minutemen's culture... Waiting for Jose provides a unique vantage point of individuals experiencing a loss of place in an ever-increasing diverse America."--Leah N. Diaz, Contemporary Rural Social Work "Shapira has written a fine book about identity construction and masculinity fueled by racism and a longing for community. Very few books on politics do that."--Ronnee Schreiber, Perspectives on Politics "Shapira provides us with a window into the lives and practices of a group of ideologically inconsistent, sometimes confrontational, yet ultimately sympathetic, civic-minded actors."--Justin Allen Berg, American Journal of Sociology "Waiting for Jose brings the Minutemen's experience to the reader still warm. If the explanation is not airtight, it is because the Minutemen in the book are alive."--Nicolas Eilbaum, Contemporary Sociology "Shapria's balanced approach is quite rare, because he spends much time revealing close details of a conservative movement that was a precursor to the Tea Party; and he accomplishes this by writing with a level of empathy, balanced with professionalism that is refreshingly rare in today's political climate. Waiting for Jose would be a very suitable supplemental textbook for any Sociology or Political Science course dealing with issues of immigration on the United States southern border."--John R. Lewis, Journal of American Studies of Turkey
Table of ContentsThe Minutemen Chain of Command viii Acknowledgments xi Preface: A Place on the Border xv Introduction: All Quiet on the Southern Front 1 Chapter 1: American Dreams 27 Chapter 2: Camp Vigilance 39 Chapter 3: Gordon and His Guns 73 Chapter 4: Scenes from the Border 97 Chapter 5: Encounters 125 Conclusion: Belonging in America 145 Appendix: A Note on Methodology 153 Notes 163 Works Cited 171 Index 175
