Not Just Mexico’s Problem: Labor Migration from Mexico to the United States (1900 – 2000)

U.S. President Barack Obama has vowed to “help countries like Mexico… do a better job of creating jobs for their people” as part of his plan to curtail undocumented immigration to the United States (Organizing for America). This idea – that the root cause of undocumented migration from Mexico to the U.S. is economic underdevelopment in Mexico – has currency in both popular and political discourse. But is it accurate? In this article, I synthesize historical, theoretical, and ethnographic scholarship to provide a transnational perspective on twentieth century labor migration from Mexico to the United States. These data show that “illegal” transmigrant labor is not an historical accident, nor merely an unfortunate side effect of legal migration, nor a result of economic underdevelopment in Mexico. Rather, undocumented transmigration is a predictable result of the confluence of three interrelated trends: neoliberal development of the Mexican and U.S. economies, the establishment of transnational social networks over time, and gross disparity between U.S. immigration policy and the realities of labor needs within global capitalism. Political rhetoric that deems unauthorized migration as “Mexico’s problem” obscures this economic interdependence, conceals the ways in which development policies have produced itinerant wage labor, and masks the complicity of U.S. policies in encouraging and sustaining undocumented labor migration. Furthermore, rhetoric that distances U.S. policy from labor migration reinforces the marginalization of some estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States

The Complicit Anthropologist

The invitation to become “accomplices, not allies” is a timely and urgent summons to a political left that has recently swelled with renewed vigor. Galvanized to contest the Trump administration, freshly politicized young people and veteran activists alike have a spectrum of options for political engagement—few of which seriously threaten to dismantle broader systems of inequality and injustice. In line with Rosa and Bonilla\u27s call to avoid exceptionalizing Trump in favor of more critical and robust analyses of colonialism, racism, and U.S. statehood, the call to become accomplices urges progressives to avoid the deceptive comfort of allyship, and, instead, to pursue complicity with criminalized communities (2017)

On Gender, Labor, and Inequality Ruth Milkman Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016 viii + 308 pp., 95.00(cloth);95.00 (cloth); 28.00 (paper); $25.20 (e-book)

In this scholarly tour de force, Ruth Milkman brings together four decades of sociological research on women workers to paint a portrait of gendered labor patterns from the Great Depression of the 1930s to the Great Recession of 2007–9. With meticulous research, careful argumentation, and effective writing, Milkman shows how economic actors—especially women workers, unions, and employers—shaped women\u27s employment and key industries of the US economy. As they managed changes in the labor and job markets, these actors both maintained strict job segregation by gender and transformed it, with implications for the dynamism and rigidity of gender roles in society more widely

Review Essay: Law and Migrant Labor in the 20th Century: Ghost Workers and Global Capitalism

Large-scale movements of workers, production lines, commodities, and centers of power have been integral to capitalist development since its earliest stages (see Mintz 1986; Wallerstein 2011; Wolf 1997). Today, mobility continues to uphold global capitalism in important respects (Sassen 1988). In particular, the capacity to move production across nation-state borders has allowed capitalist industries to take advantage of post-colonial inequalities as they reorganize production in ways and places that reduce manufacturing costs and enhance corporate profit..

Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, 10th Anniversary Edition

Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, Tenth Anniversary Edition, is an ethnography of undocumented immigrants who work as busboys at a Chicago-area restaurant. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz introduces readers to the Lions, ten friends from Mexico committed to improving their fortunes and the lives of their families. Set in and around Il Vino, a restaurant that could stand in for many places that employ undocumented workers, The Tenth Anniversary Edition of Labor and Legality reveals the faces behind the war being waged over illegal immigrants in America. Gomberg-Muñoz focuses on how undocumented workers develop a wide range of social strategies to cultivate financial security, nurture emotional well-being, and promote their dignity and self-esteem. She also reviews the political and historical circumstances of undocumented migration, with an emphasis on post-1970 socioeconomic and political conditions in the United States and Mexico.Labor and Legality, Tenth Anniversary Edition, is one of many volumes in the series ISSUES OF GLOBALIZATION: CASE STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY, which introduces key concepts and theories of globalization through rich and compelling ethnography. It offers new research through case studies in a style and format appropriate for both students and scholars of Anthropology and related fields. Each volume offers a brief and engaging exploration of a particular issue arising from globalization and its cultural, political, and economic effects on certain peoples or groups.https://ecommons.luc.edu/facultybooks/1182/thumbnail.jp

Becoming Legal: Immigration Law and Mixed-Status Families

There are approximately eleven million undocumented people living in the United States, and most of them have family members who are U.S. citizens. There is a common perception that marriage to a U.S. citizen puts undocumented immigrants on a quick-and-easy path to U.S. citizenship. But for people who have entered the U.S. unlawfully and live here without papers, the line to legal status is neither short nor easy, even for those with spouses who are U.S. citizens. Becoming Legal: Immigration Law and Mixed-Status Families follows mixed-status couples down the long and bumpy road of immigration processing. It explores how they navigate every step along the way, from the decision to undertake legalization, to the immigration interview in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to the effort to put together a case of extreme hardship so that the undocumented family member can return. Author Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz also discusses families\u27 efforts to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of immigration processing--both for those who are successful and those who are not.https://ecommons.luc.edu/facultybooks/1243/thumbnail.jp

Anthropological Theory for the Twenty-First Century: A Critical Approach

Anthropological Theory for the Twenty-First Century presents a critical approach to the study of anthropological theory for the next generation of aspiring anthropologists. Through a carefully curated selection of readings, this collection reflects the diversity of scholars who have long contributed to the development of anthropological theory, incorporating writings by scholars of color, non-Western scholars, and others whose contributions have historically been under-acknowledged. The volume puts writings from established canonical thinkers, such as Marx, Boas, and Foucault, into productive conversations with Du Bois, Ortiz, Medicine, Trouillot, Said, and many others. The editors also engage in critical conversations surrounding the canon itself, including its colonial history and decolonial potential. Updating the canon with late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century scholarship, this reader includes discussions of contemporary theories such as queer theory, decolonial theory, ontology, and anti-racism. Each section is framed by clear and concise editorial introductions that place the readings in context and conversation with each other, as well as questions and glossaries to guide reader comprehension. A dynamic companion website features additional resources, including links to videos, podcasts, articles, and more.https://ecommons.luc.edu/facultybooks/1198/thumbnail.jp

Session B: Immigration, Transnationalism, and Cultural Identity

a) Dr. Mark Kuczewski, Professor of Medical Ethics, Loyola University Medical Center Mark G. Kuczewski, PhD, is the Fr. Michael I. English, S.J., Professor of Medical Ethics. He is also the director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy and a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). Mark is a dedicated bioethics educator. He is known for having created two of the major online graduate programs in bioethics. b) Dr. Myrna Garcia, Assistant Professor, University of Indiana-Bloomington Research areas: Latina/o im/migration, citizenship, social movements, Chicana/Latina feminism, race, and ethnicity c) JoAnn Persch, R.S.M., Peace and Justice Coordinator Sister JoAnn and Sister Patricia serve as Peace and Justice Coordinators for the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago’s WestMidwest community. Their ministry includes advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform, and they have a special concern for those who are being detained and/or deported. d) Dr. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz, Assistant Professor, Loyola University Chicago Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz is a sociocultural anthropologist with research and teaching interests in political economy, migration, Latinos/as in the U.S., race and class, applied anthropology, and urban ethnography. Her research with unauthorized immigrants in Chicago has explored how these workers negotiate perceptions of their labor as they struggle to attain autonomy, security, and dignity as undocumented immigrants in the United States. Dr. Gomberg-Muñoz has also been an ethnographer and organizer in Chicago’s immigrant rights movement since 2006. Moderator: Dr. Martín Ponti, PhD, Loyola University Chicag