Shapira - Waiting for José : the Minutemens pursuit of America

Waiting for Jos

Copyright 2013 by Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW

press.princeton.edu

All Rights Reserved

ISBN 978-0-691-15215-8

Title page photo (detail): Arizona National Guard Monitors Mexican Border.

John Moore / Getty Images News. Courtesy of Getty Images.

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

This book has been composed in Minion Pro

Printed on acid-free paper.

Printed in the United States of America

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

America Ive given you all and now Im nothing.

Allen Ginsberg, America

Estragon: Didi?

Vladamir: Yes.

Estragon: I cant go on like this.

Vladamir: Thats what you think.

Estragon: If we parted? It might be better for us.

Vladamir: Well hang ourselves tomorrow. Unless Godot comes.

Estragon: And if he comes?

Vladamir: Well be saved.

Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

The Minutemen Chain of Command

Rank: President

Name:

Handle: None

Age: 47

Home state: Arizona (moved from Los Angeles to Arizona at the end of 2001)

Military service: None

Rank: Comms leader

Name:

Handle: Poker

Age: 74

Home state: Arizona

Military service: Thirty years; stationed in Middle East during numerous conflicts

Division: Military Intelligence Corps

Rank: Scout; search and rescue

Name:

Handle: Legolas

Age: 43

Home state: Kansas

Military service: Twenty years; served in Iraq (Desert Storm)

Division: Marine Corps

Rank: Line leader

Name:

Handle: Blowfish

Age: 68

Home state: Arizona

Military service: Twenty-two years; served in Vietnam

Division: United States Army Special Forces (Green Beret)

Rank: Stands post

Name:

Handle: Mussels

Age: 68

Home state: New Hampshire

Military service: Twenty-one years; served in Vietnam

Division: Air Force

Rank: Stands post

Name:

Handle: Tennessee

Age: 44

Home state: Tennessee

Military service: Fifteen years; served in Iraq (Desert Storm)

Division: Army

Rank: Stands post

Name:

Handle: Eagle-2

Age: 71

Home state: Colorado

Military service: Twenty-seven years; served in Vietnam

Division: Army

Rank: Stands post

Name:

Handle: Dune

Age: 69

Home state: Ohio

Military service: None

Rank: Head of administration

Name: (married to Warren)

Handle: None

Age: 73

Home state: Arizona

Military service: Twenty-four years; stationed in Middle East during numerous conflicts

Division: Administrative work for Military Intelligence Corps

Acknowledgments

A FEW DAYS AFTER ARRIVING at the University of Chicago as an over-whelmed seventeen-year-old, I walked into Saskia Sassens office. Every day since then, and indeed for what has now been over a decade, first in Chicago, then in London, and now in New York, Saskia Sassen and Richard Sennett have been my home away from home, opening their arms and doors for me wherever and whenever. Thank you, Saskia, and thank you Richard.

The University of Chicago is a truly special place, with teachers who are there because they want to teach. I was fortunate enough to have many wonderful teachers at Chicago, but no one was better than the great Moishe Postone, an intellectual in the honest sense of the word.

I became a sociologist through the experience of reading Mitch Duneiers Slims Table at the very South Side Chicago diner where the book takes place. I still get goose bumps thinking back to the excitement I felt while looking around the diner to see if I could spot the wonderful characters Mitch writes about. I cannot begin to express the honor it has been to have had Mitchs support while attempting to reproduce for others, if even slightly, the kind of excitement Mitchs book produced in me.

I learned how to think at the University of Chicago, but I matured into a researcher at Columbia University.

I learned field methods from Herb Gans, a pillar of the ethnographic community. Herb taught me two critical things that I carried with me every moment in southern Arizona: (1) dont treat fieldwork as being that different from everyday life, and (2) always find out who throws away the trash: those folks are important.

In an amazing bit of luck, the Columbia housing office placed me in an apartment in the same building as Claudio Lomnitz, a scholar whose great mind is only surpassed by his great heart.

Craig Calhoun is a champion of a scholar and person. He is a rarity: an academic whose primary satisfaction comes from providing opportunities for others and doing what he can to make them succeed. As I was finishing up my dissertation, Craig offered me the Cadillac of post-docs: a three-year fellowship at his Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University, a true community if there ever was one.

Karen Barkey supported me from start to finish. When others questioned the wisdom of my place at Columbia, Karen championed my cause and guided me with her remarkable wisdom and warmth.

Throughout this project I turned to Sudhir Venkatesh for inspiration and guidance, and he offered me both with unparalleled generosity. More than anyone else, Sudhir taught me the craft of ethnography and kept me from drowning in its often treacherous waters.

I am truly at a loss for words trying to express how grateful I am to Shamus Khan for his remarkable mentorship and dear friendship. He gave more than I can account for. Let me try this: if there are sections in this book that are good, it is because Shamus made them so. How lucky we all are that Shamus will undoubtedly inspire, guide, and nurture so many students in the years to come.

Nadia Abu El-Haj, Gil Anidjar, Peter Bearman, Yinon Cohen, Victoria de Grazia, David Grazian, Alondra Nelson, and Diane Vaughan are all extremely special scholars who shared their wisdom and time with me even though I was not officially one of their students.

I had the good fortune of moving to New York University just as I began writing this book. While at NYU, Eric Klinenberg, Jeff Manza, and Harvey Molotch provided much inspiration and insight and guided me through even the most discouraging moments of writing.

From start to finish, the Princeton University Press family has been exceptional. Ellen Foos, Ryan Mulligan, and Anita OBrien gave a lot of their time and skill to improving this book. Eric Schwartz is the kind of editor people say no longer exists. He is caring, he is intelligent, he has good taste, and he gives you his time. Indeed, Eric treated this book as if it were his own. I hope he is proud of what we have produced together.

Dave Brotherton and Shehzad Nadeem reviewed this book with great care and provided terrific and thoughtful comments. David Lobenstine dedicated himself to helping me express my thoughts in a prose that is accessible and attractive.

I thank Anita Fore, Daniel Fridman, Colin Jerolmack, Jooyoung Lee, David Madden, Ashley Mears, Erin OConnor, Anatoly Pinsky, Alix Rule, Tyson Smith, Iddo Tavory, Clement Thery, and Lucia Trimbur for their help and camaraderie.