Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Feb 7, 2021
This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration... more This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration despite local social-geographical contexts of extensive mobility. The 2014 the emergence of a ‘cris...
This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational... more This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational approaches to maternal pregnancy-related care among the indigenous Maya of Guatemala. Despite efforts by the Guatemalan government and collaboration with international advocates, indigenous Maya maternal mortality rates remain a significant concern. Approaches to reducing maternal mortality have been supported by both international and national initiatives focused on “safe motherhood,” and often involve a complex assemblage of caregivers who span both state run and nongovernmental organization (NGO)-based programming. The structures of care are incredibly complicated to navigate, often forcing women and their families to incur hidden costs associated with transportation, medication, and supplies. They serve to reproduce discourses that place indigenous practices in contrast with “modernity,” and ultimately neglect the critical social role of successful home birth for Mayan women. This chapter argues that discourses of development naturalizing childbirth in Western medical settings positions indigenous birthing practices as immoral and uninformed, and obscures the larger structural issues Mayan women and communities face. Constructing Mayan women as not only uniformed but also immoral does not serve the goal of reducing maternal mortality or morbidity.
Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic engagement in Guatemala with Indigenous youth, local communi... more Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic engagement in Guatemala with Indigenous youth, local community organizations, and transnational nongovernmental organizations, this article examines how young people imagine and work toward alternative futures at the intersection of extensive migration and a developmentalist push for educational attainment. I show how, within the development infrastructures generated by migration, contrasting futures are rendered, with concerns over education being a key site for this imaginative and future‐oriented work.
VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 2017
Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brough... more Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brought unprecedented levels of attention to long extant social and political issues perceived as causing youth migration. While governments on both sides of the US border faced criticism over responses to the migration “crisis,” the presumed causes of this migration presented in US media discourses went largely unquestioned. This article presents data collected in June 2015 from in-depth interviews with Guatemalan and transnational non-governmental organization (NGO) staff, scholars, lawyers, and activists in order to understand the complex interpretations of child migration by NGO actors in Guatemala. Findings illustrate how NGOs may selectively draw on the power of prevailing media narratives to buttress ideological and programmatic goals while simultaneously contesting how the same media depictions obscure the lived realities of migrants. We consider the transnational information politics ...
This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration... more This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration despite local social-geographical contexts of extensive mobility. The 2014 the emergence of a ‘cris...
VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 2017
Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brough... more Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brought unprecedented levels of attention to long extant social and political issues perceived as causing youth migration. While governments on both sides of the US border faced criticism over responses to the migration “crisis,” the presumed causes of this migration presented in US media discourses went largely unquestioned. This article presents data collected in June 2015 from in-depth interviews with Guatemalan and transnational non-governmental organization (NGO) staff, scholars, lawyers, and activists in order to understand the complex interpretations of child migration by NGO actors in Guatemala. Findings illustrate how NGOs may selectively draw on the power of prevailing media narratives to buttress ideological and programmatic goals while simultaneously contesting how the same media depictions obscure the lived realities of migrants. We consider the transnational information politics ...
This article explores the use of “Mexicans Be Like” memes in terms of the heteroglossic tension t... more This article explores the use of “Mexicans Be Like” memes in terms of the heteroglossic tension they both employ and produce, and the ways in which meme examples creatively recontextualize ideas about immigration, the border, contested histories, models of personhood, racialization and presumptions of social value. I understand these memes as an opportunity for viewers to position themselves in political, social and cultural landscapes, and in so doing contribute to an environment where consumers are not passive but quintessentially productive, altering the meme content, and redeploying them into new social domains. In an attempt to appreciate the work “Mexicans Be Like” memes do, I consider how the “Mexicans Be Like” meme produces and contests certain models of personhood and the social values associated with them. This piece explores how the producer/consumers of this meme are necessarily bricoleurs, constructing meaning via their thoughtful deployment of cultural, at times stereo...
This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational... more This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational approaches to maternal pregnancy-related care among the indigenous Maya of Guatemala. Despite efforts by the Guatemalan government and collaboration with international advocates, indigenous Maya maternal mortality rates remain a significant concern. Approaches to reducing maternal mortality have been supported by both international and national initiatives focused on “safe motherhood,” and often involve a complex assemblage of caregivers who span both state run and nongovernmental organization (NGO)-based programming. The structures of care are incredibly complicated to navigate, often forcing women and their families to incur hidden costs associated with transportation, medication, and supplies. They serve to reproduce discourses that place indigenous practices in contrast with “modernity,” and ultimately neglect the critical social role of successful home birth for Mayan women. This chapter argues that discourses of development naturalizing childbirth in Western medical settings positions indigenous birthing practices as immoral and uninformed, and obscures the larger structural issues Mayan women and communities face. Constructing Mayan women as not only uniformed but also immoral does not serve the goal of reducing maternal mortality or morbidity.
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Feb 7, 2021
This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration... more This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration despite local social-geographical contexts of extensive mobility. The 2014 the emergence of a ‘cris...
This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational... more This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational approaches to maternal pregnancy-related care among the indigenous Maya of Guatemala. Despite efforts by the Guatemalan government and collaboration with international advocates, indigenous Maya maternal mortality rates remain a significant concern. Approaches to reducing maternal mortality have been supported by both international and national initiatives focused on “safe motherhood,” and often involve a complex assemblage of caregivers who span both state run and nongovernmental organization (NGO)-based programming. The structures of care are incredibly complicated to navigate, often forcing women and their families to incur hidden costs associated with transportation, medication, and supplies. They serve to reproduce discourses that place indigenous practices in contrast with “modernity,” and ultimately neglect the critical social role of successful home birth for Mayan women. This chapter argues that discourses of development naturalizing childbirth in Western medical settings positions indigenous birthing practices as immoral and uninformed, and obscures the larger structural issues Mayan women and communities face. Constructing Mayan women as not only uniformed but also immoral does not serve the goal of reducing maternal mortality or morbidity.
Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic engagement in Guatemala with Indigenous youth, local communi... more Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic engagement in Guatemala with Indigenous youth, local community organizations, and transnational nongovernmental organizations, this article examines how young people imagine and work toward alternative futures at the intersection of extensive migration and a developmentalist push for educational attainment. I show how, within the development infrastructures generated by migration, contrasting futures are rendered, with concerns over education being a key site for this imaginative and future‐oriented work.
VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 2017
Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brough... more Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brought unprecedented levels of attention to long extant social and political issues perceived as causing youth migration. While governments on both sides of the US border faced criticism over responses to the migration “crisis,” the presumed causes of this migration presented in US media discourses went largely unquestioned. This article presents data collected in June 2015 from in-depth interviews with Guatemalan and transnational non-governmental organization (NGO) staff, scholars, lawyers, and activists in order to understand the complex interpretations of child migration by NGO actors in Guatemala. Findings illustrate how NGOs may selectively draw on the power of prevailing media narratives to buttress ideological and programmatic goals while simultaneously contesting how the same media depictions obscure the lived realities of migrants. We consider the transnational information politics ...
This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration... more This paper ethnographically explores how indigenous Guatemalan youth come to desire non-migration despite local social-geographical contexts of extensive mobility. The 2014 the emergence of a ‘cris...
VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 2017
Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brough... more Sharp increases in “child migrants” from Central America detained at the US border in 2014 brought unprecedented levels of attention to long extant social and political issues perceived as causing youth migration. While governments on both sides of the US border faced criticism over responses to the migration “crisis,” the presumed causes of this migration presented in US media discourses went largely unquestioned. This article presents data collected in June 2015 from in-depth interviews with Guatemalan and transnational non-governmental organization (NGO) staff, scholars, lawyers, and activists in order to understand the complex interpretations of child migration by NGO actors in Guatemala. Findings illustrate how NGOs may selectively draw on the power of prevailing media narratives to buttress ideological and programmatic goals while simultaneously contesting how the same media depictions obscure the lived realities of migrants. We consider the transnational information politics ...
This article explores the use of “Mexicans Be Like” memes in terms of the heteroglossic tension t... more This article explores the use of “Mexicans Be Like” memes in terms of the heteroglossic tension they both employ and produce, and the ways in which meme examples creatively recontextualize ideas about immigration, the border, contested histories, models of personhood, racialization and presumptions of social value. I understand these memes as an opportunity for viewers to position themselves in political, social and cultural landscapes, and in so doing contribute to an environment where consumers are not passive but quintessentially productive, altering the meme content, and redeploying them into new social domains. In an attempt to appreciate the work “Mexicans Be Like” memes do, I consider how the “Mexicans Be Like” meme produces and contests certain models of personhood and the social values associated with them. This piece explores how the producer/consumers of this meme are necessarily bricoleurs, constructing meaning via their thoughtful deployment of cultural, at times stereo...
This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational... more This chapter focuses on the impact of development discourses of biomedical care and transnational approaches to maternal pregnancy-related care among the indigenous Maya of Guatemala. Despite efforts by the Guatemalan government and collaboration with international advocates, indigenous Maya maternal mortality rates remain a significant concern. Approaches to reducing maternal mortality have been supported by both international and national initiatives focused on “safe motherhood,” and often involve a complex assemblage of caregivers who span both state run and nongovernmental organization (NGO)-based programming. The structures of care are incredibly complicated to navigate, often forcing women and their families to incur hidden costs associated with transportation, medication, and supplies. They serve to reproduce discourses that place indigenous practices in contrast with “modernity,” and ultimately neglect the critical social role of successful home birth for Mayan women. This chapter argues that discourses of development naturalizing childbirth in Western medical settings positions indigenous birthing practices as immoral and uninformed, and obscures the larger structural issues Mayan women and communities face. Constructing Mayan women as not only uniformed but also immoral does not serve the goal of reducing maternal mortality or morbidity.
This book describes an American town that became home to thousands of Mexican migrants between 19... more This book describes an American town that became home to thousands of Mexican migrants between 1995-2016, where the Mexican population increased by over 1000% and Mexicans became almost a third of the town. We explore how the descendants of earlier migrants interacted with Mexican newcomers, describing how experiences of and stories about migration unfolded across institutional spaces—residential neighborhoods, politics, businesses, public spaces, churches, schools, community organizations. We emphasize the ongoing changes in prior migrant communities and the interactions these groups had with Mexicans, showing how interethnic relations played a central role in newcomers’ pathways. The book richly represents the voices of Irish, Italian, African American and Mexican residents.
The book shows how Mexicans’ experiences were shaped by stories about the town’s earlier cycles of migration. Many Irish, Italian and African American residents narrated an idealized but partly accurate history in which their ancestors came as migrants and traveled pathways from struggle to success—“up and out” of the less desirable downtown neighborhoods. We trace how these stories were often inaccurate, but nonetheless influenced the realities of migrant life.
The town in which this ethnography took place represents similar communities across the United States and around the world that have received large numbers of immigrants in a short time. We must document the complexities that migrants and hosts experience in towns like this if we hope to respond intelligently to the politically-motivated stories that oversimplify migration across the contemporary world.
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The book shows how Mexicans’ experiences were shaped by stories about the town’s earlier cycles of migration. Many Irish, Italian and African American residents narrated an idealized but partly accurate history in which their ancestors came as migrants and traveled pathways from struggle to success—“up and out” of the less desirable downtown neighborhoods. We trace how these stories were often inaccurate, but nonetheless influenced the realities of migrant life.
The town in which this ethnography took place represents similar communities across the United States and around the world that have received large numbers of immigrants in a short time. We must document the complexities that migrants and hosts experience in towns like this if we hope to respond intelligently to the politically-motivated stories that oversimplify migration across the contemporary world.