| Mexican transnational migrants are among the poorest and most socially marginalized people in the 21st century, and this extended case study on the Xaripu community examines how a history of social inequalities extends into the present and impacts the nature of their political-economic and social integration in the United States. Among the main objectives of this study were to develop a critical theoretical framework---Interactive Colonization---that advances the understanding of racism, patriarchy, and economic oppression in a global context of national inequalities, and to examine how these inequities impact labor-migration, community, and family.;The subjects of analysis are Xaripu-origin persons from Michoacan, Mexico (n = 25) and California, United States (n = 31). Oral histories, in-depth interviews, participant observation, letters, newspapers, and other sources were used to gain a qualitative understanding about their labor, migration, community, and family experiences. Among the questions examined were the following: What has shaped Xaripus migration experiences? How have they been economically incorporated into the United States? How have labor-migration experiences impacted their communities on both sides of the border? How have migration and employment experiences affected the family? How have these experiences influenced gender relationships within the family on both sides of the border? The Interactive Colonization model---emphasizing colonialism, dialectics, and interactionism---examines Xaripus' experiences in relationship to the hegemonic group/nation and to intra-community stratifications. The applied aspects of this study are broad, but will primarily serve to inform more humane immigration and labor policies, and will advance the understanding of the processes of community/family production and reproduction within a global context of political and economic inequalities. |
