Mothers crossing borders: Gender, Nation, and the dangers of reproduction

In the province of Jujuy, located on the northern border of Argentina and Bolivia, the widespread image of the "Bolivian pregnant woman who crosses the border to give birth on the Argentine side" orders a great deal of the perceptions, views and ideals of many Argentineans. Themes relating to material resources, to rights of citizenship and to meanings and feelings of belonging appear in stories and statements that reject and condemn these women. How are we to interpret the reactions that these women's actions provoke? What fears and anxieties are provoked by such border crossing? This paper shows that Bolivian women who cross the border are seen as a societal disturbance, and embody a double threat to "integrity": to social integrity, understood as a system of regulated inequality, and to national/racial integrity, understood as a holistic ethnic community.