Place Meaning and Neoliberalism in Sonoran Copper-Mining Towns

Cananea and Nacozari de Garcia are copper-mining towns in Sonora, Mexico that provide excellent opportunities for studying the relationship between the means of existence and the meaning of place. Originally built as American-run company towns, the locales serve as national symbols of the country's labor movement and nationalism. Owing to complete company control over symbolism in the built environment, however, a lack of community and place identity is apparent in the mining towns.