Book Review: Barrio Libre: Criminalizing states and delinquent refusals of the new frontier

• DOI: 10.1177/1057567717703160
• Date: 01 June 2017
• Published date: 01 June 2017
• Author: Krystlelynn Caraballo
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Unfortunately for his monograph, the author left out a portion of his 2008 dissertation which

provided a theoretical overview as to why South LA is unlikely to see any meaningful cha nge to

its long-standing social disorganization. See “The Transformation of a Los Angeles Ghetto:

Latino immigration, and the New Urban Social Order” (Department of Sociology dissertation,

U.C., Berkeley, 2008). Here, Martinez cites Loı¨c Wacquant for the notion of the “hyperghetto.”

This is the notion that American racism combined with the need for low-wage labor has created

ghetto spaces, upon which the criminal justice industrial complex enforces inequality while

tolerating a higher rate of crime and victimization compared to other (White) neighborhoods.

It could be considered cultural genocide, but Martinez does not take us there.

All in all, The Neighborhood Has Its Own Rules is a wonderful testament to the power of

ethnography and street-level observations of various alternative means of violence suppression. It

provides the possibility of the state resourcing alternative institutions as a means to alleviate inequal-

ity. Importantly, these institutions include public education, the churches, and various nonprofit

groups who chose to work in high-crime communities.

Rosas, G. (2012).

Barrio Libre: Criminalizing states and delinquent refusals of the new frontier.

Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 188 pp. $24. ISBN 978-0-8223-5237-2

Reviewed by: Krystlelynn Caraballo, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/1057567717703160

Immigration policies have become a key security topic over the last 30 years with politicians

increasingly criminalizing undocumented Latino immigrants, chipping away at immigrant protec-

tions by separating civilian rights from human rights, and exposing an already vulnerable population

to various forms of victimization. Barrio Libre by Gilberto Rosas effectiv ely bridges together

anthropology, sociology, and criminology, while simultaneously weaving the individual experiences

of several youth into the larger undocumented experience using a combination of ethnographic tools

including observational data and informal interviews. Gilberto Rosas uses an ethnographic design

that relies on informal interviews and observational data of approximately 13 youth. The book’s

design weaves their individual stories into the larger undocumented experience, taking into account

cultural and historical landmarks that influenced criminal justice policies.

Barrio Libre begins with an overview of the history between the United States and Mexico,

including the complex political economies and each government’s use of race and criminality to

control undesirable populations. Rosas then discusses the origins of Barrio Libre (Free Hood) within

the context of the Mexican government and changing security regimes. In pursuit of freedom, the

narrative shifts to the subgroups of Barrio Libre emphasizing on the social division discussed below.

The midpoint draws on vignettes from the youth after watching the September 11, 2001, attacks

on the World Trade Center in New York. It contrasts the previous chapter with quotes of solidarity

for the undocumented workers killed, while simultaneously describing the rapid influx of border

patrol agents. The focus then shifts to the militarized policing practices of the U.S. border patrol and

the effect this has had on the youths’ “perverse proximity” to violence. The final chapter ties

together the effect of militarized policing, the culture of poverty, and the pathological ways of

exercising agency amid oppression. The conclusion integrates these intersecting themes in a way

that demonstrates how stigma and over criminalization have perpetuated state sanctioned violence

against this population, both by government officials and vigilante groups.

154 International Criminal Justice Review 27(2)