In the mid-nineteenth century, decades after independence in Latin America, borderlands presented existential challenges to consolidating nation-states.  In Place of Mobility  examines how and why these spaces became challenging to governments and what their meaningfulness is for our understanding of the development of a global world by examining one of those spaces: the Trans-Andean, an Argentine-Chilean borderland connected by the Andes mountains and centered on the Argentine region of Cuyo. It answers these questions by interweaving three narratives: Chilean migration to western Argentina; mountain-crossing Argentine rebels; and the formation of plans for railroads to cross the mountains. Out of these narratives emerges a twofold argument that, on the one hand, locates the causes and stakes of foundational national conflicts in Argentina in a Pacific-facing Trans-Andean and, on the other hand, sees the Trans-Andean as part of mid-nineteenth-century globalization, thus connecting national conflicts, nonnational geographies, and globalization. As a result, this book challenges dominant narratives about social and political conflicts at this formative moment in Argentine and Latin American history while opening up discussion on the methodologies and meaningfulness of transnational, borderlands, and global histories. “Superb. . . . [T]his is an excellent work, refreshing in its details and novel in its perspectives. Harvey’s book gives the border between Chile and Argentina its rightful place as a space where connections mattered more than the artificial lines drawn on the tops of mountains in the offices of their respective capitals.”— The Americas “ In Place of Mobility is an exhaustive analysis and an illuminating case study that helps us understand the human dimension of mobility.”— Hispanic American Historical Review “A fascinating social analysis of the formation of the Chile-Argentina borderland region during the second half of the 19th century. . . . Recommended.”— CHOICE “[Harvey] leaves us beautiful pages where Chilean and Argentine immigrants, rebels, and political exiles meet Ezequiel Martínez Estrada and Lucío Mansilla within a train that, at the rhythm of out-loud reading, traverses and separates the Trans Andean world.”— H-Latin America “This systematic history of Chilean-Argentine migration across the Andes deftly connects western Argentina to the Pacific world. Moving beyond national boundaries as containers of analysis, it offers instead a nuanced narrative rooted in the lived experience of rural Andean life.”—Jeffrey Alan Erbig Jr., author of Where Caciques and Mapmakers Met “Marvelous . . .Harvey tackles the issues head-on while still offering a discussion marked by both nuance and respect for the story. The arguments and structure alike are well balanced and rich and leave the reader wanting more in the best possible way.”—Benjamin D. Hopkins, author of Ruling the Savage Periphery “Marvelous . . .Harvey tackles the issues head-on while still offering a discussion marked by both nuance and respect for the story. The arguments and structure alike are well balanced and rich and leave the reader wanting more in the best possible way.”—Benjamin D. Hopkins, author of Ruling the Savage Periphery Crossing mountains to create a Trans-Andean borderland. Kyle E. Harvey is assistant professor of history at Western Carolina University.