Only Time Can Tell if Geography is Still Destiny: Time, Space, and NAFTA in a U.S.-Mexican Border City

This article highlights sociopolitical implications of local responses to globalization as reflected in their time and space orientations. It illustrates two local responses in El Paso, Texas, to the ongoing integration of the U.S. and Mexican economies: 1) an economic strategy promoted by a group of labor advocates to address social dislocation caused by plant relocations; and 2) an economic plan embraced by the local business community in relation to regional infrastructural needs for international production. This article explores developmental implications of these responses regarding sharp discrepancies among local groups as well as between local and global entities. These discrepancies entail complex sociopolitical dynamics influencing the allocation of resources not only in terms of local groups but, increasingly, in terms of international operations. In theoretical terms, the case study provides a vivid illustration of contrasts and changes that suggest tangible new insights about the temporal and spatial dimensions of globalization.