ifornia. Drawing on interviews and
other field work conducted in 2007–
2008 by 32 graduate students at the
University of California, San Diego
(UCSD), the book provides useful empirical information and data, as well
as an analysis of the link between immigration, transnationalism, international relations, and economics. This
is the fourth in a series of studies on
Mexican migration conducted by the
Center for Comparative Immigration
Studies, with oversight from Wayne A.
Cornelius, David Fitzgerald and Scott
Borger of UCSD and Jorge Hernández-Díaz of the Universidad Autónoma
Benito Juárez de Oaxaca.
FRESH LOOK
According to the book, an estimated 30 percent of Tlacotepec’s
3,307 residents have left town, having migrated to more economically
developed parts of Mexico or to the
United States. The community is
therefore an excellent choice for analyzing both the indigenous experience of migration and the transnational forces that connect sending
and receiving communities.
Initial chapters cover the economic, social and political push-and-pull forces in the Tlacotepec-San Diego migratory process. But the book’s
most important discussion comes in
the chapter on the civic, political and
cultural participation of indigenous
migrants in both their places of origin
and destination. Here, researchers often grapple with how the indigenous
migrant experience differs from that
of the non-indigenous.
What remains to be studied is
the importance of other factors—
besides maintaining political and
civic connections at home—on pre-
serving migrants’ ethnic identity. The
authors suggest that prolonged dis-
connection from their roots makes
it increasingly difficult for indige-
nous peoples to remain culturally
distinct from other Latino migrants
to the United States.
Another insightful chapter fo-
cuses on the role of technology in
migrant networks. UCSD students
Leah Muse-Orlinoff, Maximino
Matus Ruiz, Chelsea Ambort, and
John E. Cárdenas survey the use
of public telephones, private land-
lines and videoconferences among
migrants involved in hometown
associations and local leadership
committees. Not surprisingly, the
authors find a rise in the use of the
Internet and other technologies
among youth, predicting that ser-
vices like Skype and instant mes-
saging will gain importance in the
transnational community.
Migration has also affected life-
styles within the Tlacotepec com-
munity. The chapter written by Clare
Appleby, Nancy Moreno and Arielle
Despite strict rules of eligibility
that limit candidates for municipal
posts to those who have previously
served in public office, the authors
discover that many migrants in San
UCSD students Elizabeth Perry,
Nishma Doshi, Jonathan Hicken,
and Julio Ricardo Méndez García at-
tempt to shed light on this question
by analyzing the customary rules (of
collective decision making and com-
munal leadership) that structure in-
digenous civic and political partici-
pation and how those are affected
when migrants return home.
Diego continue to play a leadership
role at home, even if not officially
elected. “Out-migration has compelled Tlacotepenses to modify the
system of political, religious and social cargos [positions] in their town,”
the researchers conclude. New initiatives lower the requirements to hold
office, allow community members to
carry out migrants’ leadership duties
and limit the expectations that absent
townspeople will actively participate
in local decision-making bodies. One
political by-product of the prolonged
absence of fathers, husbands and sons
is that more women now participate
in town committees.
