linda llrcgoso, Merccdcs Gonz{lez de la Rocha, Mirrh lbtrrl, fonirtlrarr lnclu,

Norma Klahn, Sara Maria Lara, olga Ndjera-Ramirez, Ilc'utriz M. l)esquera,

Maria Angela Rodriguez, Maria fosefina Saldafla, vania Salles, Martha ludith
S6nchez, Denise Segura, Paola Sesia, |os6 Manuel Valenzuela, Laura velasco,
Ofelia Woo Morales, Patricia Zamudio, Patricia Zavella,and Christian Zlol-
niski. Gracias a todos/as. '
Itttrotlttctitltt
We appreciate the superb research assistance of Maria Socorro Castafleda-
Liles, |oseph Manuel Castafleda-Liles, Gladys Garcia-L6pez, and, Catherine
Medrano from ucsB, and Marisol Castafleda, Adrian Flores, and sandra
Mata from ucsc. Rebecca Gimez from the University of Texas, Austin pro-
vided helpful initial translations of some articles. Thanks to fonathan Fox,
Francisco A. Lomeli, |uan-vicente palerm, and Manuel pastor for help with
translation of technical terms and general scholarly input. We are grateful
to two anonymous reviewers whose insightful suggestions greatly improved
the manuscript. Thanks to Reynolds Smith for his support throughout this
project. Pam Morrison, the assistant managing editor, and Tricia Mickelberry,
the copyeditor, did a tremendous job synchronizing text and language. Finally,
A lrotrle rlrttttl is in ...a constant state of transition'
we thank Carl Guti6rrez-|ones, Director of the Center for Chicano Studies ( ilr rllg A rrzlltl(ra, Borderlands
at ucss, Theresa Pefla, and Zenaida perez, whose consistent support helped
make this volume a reality. Mil gracias a todos/as! on maga-
f, lrr rtlgg the anthropologist Leo Chavez presented a slide show
united and Mexico
tlrre covcrs to a symposium of scholars from the States

nt the U'iversity of California, Santa Ctuz.The slides

vividly illustrated U'S'
regimes of represen-
Itntlvist discourse on Mexican immigration, including
fertility (Chavez
lstkrtt thot posited invasion of the nation through womeds
women's bodies served
Ioor ).'the ensuing, lively discussion centered on how
but Mexican
sr riltes tirr mapping transnational relations of social inequality'
Hrrtl U.s. scholars differed in their approaches to migration vis-ir-vis questions
focused by and
nrketl irncl theoretical models engaged. The Mexican scholars
into the migrant
lnrgc olr how structural processes pushed women northward
about migrants had
rlt'crtttt nnd acknowledged that until recently, discourse
r orrsidcrecl them lost to the nation. The U.S. scholars, on
the other hand' fo-

t usfrl tllore on migrant agency in negotiating survival, resistance' and even

toward
r.nlpowcrment in the face of marginalization and discrimination
"a light-
Mexicarr migrants in the United States. In what we char'acterized
as
we
lrttlll tttoment" (or, as we say in Spanish,"se prendi6 el foco')' we realized

Irntl trccn proceeding on parallel tracks'

'llrc tlilt'erences in assumptions and approaches articulated at this seminar
and Mexican
rrrnynot bc representative of the larger population of Chicana
nr.lrolnrs involved in research on Mexican women in the
U'S'-Mexico border-
participants'respective
lrttttls or oll inrnligratitln. However, the diversity of the

xrr A(;KNowt,tr,t)(iMtlN't,s
 cliscipliDirf y trailrirrg (attlltropology, s.ciokrgy, ccorr.nrir,s,
liler.irlrrrc, worrrcrr,.s llrrrl sll'rrclurll violcncc is nranif'est irr developed countries as well and ofien
studies, and ethnic studies) pointed to the neecl
to interrognle antl rrreve bc- pllee ls wonlcn clilll'rently: "'lhrough structural forms of violence persons are
yond a nation-bound discourse. We therefore committecl
oursclvcs to work nrr'lully uttcl culturally marginalized in ways that deny them the opportunity
on developing a binational approach that would include
structural forces Iur errroliorrtl ancl physical well-being, or expose them to assault or rape, or
and women's agency as well as incorporate U.S. and Mexican
perspectives on rtthfee t tltcrtr to hazards that can cause sickness and death'(1998, r45). Despite
women on either side of the U.S._Mexico border.r
lhe rreerl to understand the multifaceted ways in which women experience
This anthology is a step in that direction, presenting
some of the resources rlrttcturirl violence, women remain underrepresented in the vast literature
we used to develop binational, collaborative conversations
on Mexican otr nrigrution from Mexico or the social changes occurring related to U.S.-
women in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. For the seminar, each participant
Mexico itttcgration.3
had selected one article that she or he found to be central
on questions of lrr tlris volume, we explore how women adapt to structural transformations,
Mexican women in transnational context, focusing on
women's participation corrlest or crcarte representations of their identities in light of their marginality,
in processes that transcend the actual geopolitical boundary
or are shaped by nntl givc voice to their complex human agency, or "subjective transnational-
transnational migration. Some of those articles are included
here alongside lrtu," rrs wc refer to it. Drawing on the work on transnationalism and Chi-
others that deepen a transborder conversation regarding
Mexican women in e ann/o Studies, we argue that women are constructing their identities in spaces
what Anzaldua Q987) referred to as the..borderlands.,,
"krr,'rrtetl irr the interstices between the dominant national and cultural systems
Throughout history the United States and Mexico have
been economically, rrl lrrrllr tlrc United States and Mexico'(David G. Gutidrrez rgg9, +88) as they
socially, and culturally intertwined, with migration
to the United States being llve, work, and play in communities on both sides of the border.Women in the
predominantly male. Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century, how_ Lf,S, Mcxico borderlands construct a new diasporic subjectivity that may be
ever' women are just about as likely to migrate as men.
Internal economic rrlrprrnltitrnal and transformative (EmmaP6rez Lg9il as they reflect on their
development polices within Mexico, the North Atlantic
Free Trade Associa- etperierrccs of migration, settlement, work, or social reproduction that are
tion (Nerra), and a huge buildup of "free enterprise" zones have
increasingly nllectetl by globalization and structural violence. Subjective transnationalism
drawn women from different regions to the border area
and even, in many reller'ls the cxperience of feeling"at home" in more than one geographic loca-
cases' to the United States.These developments
coupled with the need for low- lhrrr whcrc identity construction is deterritorialized as part of a borderlands
wage' flexible labor and the growth of numerous informal-economy
jobs, par_ nllrture ol'shifting race and ethnic boundaries and gendered transitions in a
ticularly in the service sector in both countries, have further
strengthened the glolrnl cconomy. Conversely, subjective transnationalism includes feelings that
economic integration of Mexico and the United States
and the feminization of orte ls rrcithcr fiom "here" nor from "therel'that is, not at home anywhere. As
transnational migration.
wnnrcrr'.s nrarket activities increase, so do their negotiations for an enhanced
The magnitude and intensity of transnational migration has created nrt'lrtl sPircc in households, local communities, and the state. These negotia-
tremendous transformations in the economic, political,
social, and cultural lkur proccsses often contest patriarchal ways of being as women increasingly
spheres. The United States is becoming increasingly
Mexicanized as migrants en14rtgc. in procluctive as well as reproductive labor. Even if this labor is viewed
settle in disparate sites that replenish traditional Mexican
communities (e.g., lry lrrorc privileged "first world" inhabitants as "low value" and "semi-skilled,"
california and Texas) and create new migrant communities (e.g.,
Georgia). At wurrrerr',s plrticipation in the peripheral sectors of the economycan facilitate a
the same time, Mexico is coping with the increased presence
of North Ameri- t llitltrc ol'tlrc exploitative processes that characterize global economic trans-
r
can products, firms, and settlers. In the current period
of global integration, nr lkrrs, rrs vividly demonstrated by the rise of labor activism, the increase in
these transformations are rooted in growing econom
ic polarizationor what llrr, rrtrrrrbcrs ol'women utilizing social services, the growing participation of
Paul Farmer calls structural violence: "a series of large-scale
forces-ranging in their children's schooling, and the development of
wurrrerr',s irrvolverrrent
from gender inequality to racism and power-which structure
unequal access e'runonric strirtegies associated with the rise of female-headed households.
to goods and social services" o996, 16g).'whire this
term is often usecr in Wlrlle lrouscholcls hcacled by women are typically characterized by economic
relation to developing countries, we agree with Mary
K. Anglin, wh. argues Irrnlgirrtlity, wonlcn irrcreasingly demonstrate a preference for reliance on the

2 rN't'R()l)t,(;'t,loN
tN't'ltol)u(:'l'l()N 3
 litrits ol'tlrcir la[rot' wltcn :l P111111s1'rlrip (ertlrcr.
'wtt rrrrrlc
'r lbrrr.lc) lrwcrs
the quality of their lives, creating a heighteneel l/,,1, Me,.rlco Intcgrution
.subjectivity uSput thcir crn-
straints and options' The essays in this
volume reflect n scu change of social
transformations that affect women in 'lltc hortlerlrrrrds lletween the United States and Mexico are rooted in the
the borderlands between Mexico and
the United States. lnlerlwlnetl processes of neoliberal policies and economic restructuring in the

Notions of borderlands are complex and Unlted Stntes and in Mexico that create structural violence. The integration of
have been used by writers and
theorists in widely disparate ways (Klahn the Ll,S, rttttl Mcxican economies, which pre-dated the passage of uerrl in
ry97).a one of the most influential
thinkers about borderlands, the chicana tggl hut uccelerated once the two countries became formally allied, reflects
feminist lesbian poet and theorist
Gloria Anzaldua,argues that borderlands the krng strurtling, complex relations between both societies. Historically, pro-
have multiple meanings (r9g7). Lit_
erally, the borderlands include the geopoliticar dust lun hus bcen binational, with Mexico serving as the reserve army of labor
space around the u.S._Mexico
border, where there is a great deal of for Ll,ti. ugriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors.T Over time, however,
movement of people, products, and ideas.
Borderlands also refer to how subjects thlr relntiorrship changed. Increasingly, social reproduction is taking place in
cope with social inequalities based
on lhe tlrrlted States as more women migrate and form families here, whereas
racial' gender, class, and/or sexual differences,
as well as with spiritual trans-
formation and psychic processes of exclusion pnrducliorr is rckrcating south, as U.S. jobs are'butsourcedl'These changing
and identification-of feeling
"in between" cultures,languages, F€ottonric relntions frame the context for the emergence of borderlands poli-
or places. And borderlands are spaces
the margin alized voice their identities
where tlcr laellilttccl by dual nationality, in social formations (such as binational
and resistance. All of these social, po-
litical, spiritual, and emotional transitions httrlller), rrrrd through transculturation-cultural expressions and identities
transcend geopolitical space. In
an often-cited statement, Anzaldria writes,..The thll lrunscencl the border (Paredes 1993).
u.s.-Mexico border es t4na
herida abierta (an open wound) where Al tlre nlilcro level, the increasing interdependence of world economies,
the Third world grates against the first
and bleeds. And before a scab forms it €umnrrrrrlcntions systems, and popular cultures are reshaping local and global
hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of
two worlds merging to form a third polltlenl untl economic dynamics. Remittances sent by U.S.-based Latinas/os
country-a border culture. Borders are set
up to define the places that are safe and ttt l,slltt Arttcrica-principally to Mexico and the Caribbean, but also to the
unsafe, to distinguish us from them,,
€htlre region-now constitute one of the area's largest sources of capital.s
Gg8z, ).
Borderland studies within the social sciences Untler NArr'r'A and other trade agreements, economic, social, environmental,
focus on transnational so-
cial formations, on how migrants engage illd ngrlcultr.rral policies carried out by the United States now affect Mexico
in economic, political, or sociocul_
tural activities that transcend national tttttclt nrorc directly than in the past. At the same time, Mexico's economic
borders and..deterritorializej, or span
international boundaries (Levitt zoo3;portes, lnd politictl strategies, particularly those related to migration, affect the
Guarnizo, and Lando rt
Increasingly, ethnographers who use ry99)., Utrlletl Strrtcs.'lhat the border is porous is evident in recent transformations
this approach conduct field research
in multiple sites-"sending" and "receiving" In lrlorrrcrlical-environmental policies that have resulted in greater availability
communities-so as to concre_
tize how sustained deterritori alized processes nl rrrorc rrllirrclatrle Rrns treatments and additional regulation of genetically
unfold. A second approach to
borderlands within curtural studies "emphasize[s] rnutlllictl lgricultural and medicinal products. The binational dialogue from
the ways in which identity
formation is linked to murtiple sites, both lltr,rr. lrrrrrslirrmations is becoming even more challenging in the post-g/rr era,
real and imagined, such that new
hybridized and creolized identity forms wlrt l'r. cnlls lirr lrrlrder controls and greater regulation of international migra-
emerge. According to this perspec_
tive, identities shift and are negotiated lIrn rrlr. restructuring relations of scientific and cultural exchange between the
in responses to
forces from above and
below and therefore are never fixed Ihrlletl Slntes and Mexico.
or bounded" (Levitt 2oor, z:z-lg).6 This
anthology includes work from both of A key lr.nturc of contemporary U.S.-Mexico economic interdependence is
these approaches to provide insight
on wnrrrerr',s irrcrcirsing mobility. More and more women migrate within Mexico
the multifaceted changes that Mexican
women negotiate daily in the border_
lands- nrrrl lrotrr Mcxico to the United States, a development that exacts particular
p'3'gionrrl ell'ects in both countries, including women's incorporation into the
lalrnr rrrurkct antl the f'eminization of specific occupations on both sides of the
lrol'rler'. With thcse changes con're a number <lf contradictions, such as limited
4 tN't'ROt)u(;'l,toN
t N't'R()l)uo'l'loN 5
 occtlptltiolral rnobility firr wontert despilc tlreir lriglrer crlucllielrirl irttirilrlc'1. llorc likcly to lravc lilrrrral cnrpklyrnent and thus were alrle ttl cl<lctt-
wlt' wt,r,e
This develoPment, coupled with the growth ol'househokls treaclccl lry wenrcrr,
tttctrl llteir stattts.
enlarges their numbers among the working poor. 'lhese gkllral, regignal, and
l)erpite strclt lilrnlidable barriers, migration by women (both documented
local changes have far-reaching consequences for women's wurk experiences,
thrl rrrrrlrrcurrrented) has grown steadily. Between rgro and rg3g_an era that
their family lives, their social identities, and their cultural expressions. Depression, which were
lne lrrtletl botlr the Mexican Revolution and the Great
The sociologist Shawn Kanaiaupuni argues that "migration as a response per-
Charccterizctl by significant Mexican repatriations-women constituted 5
to macro level conditions is shaped by the relative opportunity structures for to percent in the period
€€nl ol'rrrigrants fiom Mexico;that figure increased 7
men and women in places of origin and destination" (zooo, 1316). she suggests
helwee tr tg4o ancl rg6+ (the era of the Bracero Program), and climbed to zo
that migration from Mexico has been predominantly male because of three
pefge.lt rtlicr 1965, following the implementation of the 1965 Immigration
factors: patriarchal social norms, the presence of children, and occupational
Reftrrtrr Act (l)urand 1992, rzr). During these same periods,
the percentage of
segregation. Patriarchal norms deem men to be breadwinners, so if the local future trans-
Wu6ten who tttigrated within Mexico-one indicator of possible
employment structure does not provide adequate wages, the conditions favor re-
hftlrrtrnl rrrigratign-increased from 15 percent to 16 percentlo z7 percent'
male migration. This situation is mitigated by local gender considerations; in the
rpect lvely ( r zr ).'lhus, women were part of larger demographic changes
for example, when there are significant local employment opportunities for Mexicans to
mlgr$1t strcirrrr and in the political-economic forces that pushed
women' male partners tend not to migrate. The interplay between marital (Durand r99z; Cardenas
leeve tlrcil lttttle regions, attracted to jobs elsewhere
status, the presence of children, and the local opportunity structure vary
by ttltl lrhrrcs rgtl6).
gender as well. The presence of children influences men to migrate if they
Mgrc recently, migration to the United States has included even higher
do not earn enough income to support their families in Mexico, whereas the at least 6.8 million Mexican migrants
tffrrplrtftrps 9f women. Since tg7o,
effect is not that direct among women. In general, the presence of children "The percentage
hnve crrlr.r.erl tlre United States with or without documents:
often makes geographical mobility difficult, and the cost of raising a family
6f Wurrrcrr ilptong documented migrants fluctuated around 46 percent before
is lower in Mexico than in the United States; both factors discourage women and
ln(rA (t9tl9-r9tl6), during the post IRCA transition period G98l-rggz),
from migrating. "Hence married women with children are more likely to re-
lf,er tn(:A (t993 onward)" (Massey, Durand, and Malone 2oo2, r34)' Other
main in the sending communities while male family members migrate" (r3rg). estintate that 57 percent of authorized Mexican migrants were women
iltgfe e$
More important predictors of woment migration include level of education, ((lcrrrrtti irrrcl Massey zoor). Alongside the growth of documented female
prior marital women to
Btlgrutktn was an increase in the propensity for undocumented
status, and the strength of their social networks in the United
lnlgf6lc, l)rior ttl IRcA, undocumented women comprised about one quarter
States. Women who are no longer in conjugal relationships are more
likely to
migrate even if they have children and particularly if they have strong social
1l Ell rrrigrlnts. l)uring the transition and post-rnca periods, that figure rose
ties in the United States. Women with higher levels of education also tend to more
Ig rrtte tlrirtl (Massey, Durand, and Malone 2oo2,rf+). At the same time,
migrate, given the low returns on their human capital investments in Mexico joined the migrant stream (Fox and
Itlllgctrotrs Mcxicans, including women,
vis-ir-vis men (Belinda Reyes ryg).
Itlvclrr Sulgltlo zoo4). These demographic changes suggest a feminization
In addition to these economic and social considerations in Mexico, U.S. ol rtrlgrrrtion r'rom Mexico. Indeed, Kanaiaupuni's analysis of demographic
immigration policies have strongly influenced gendered migration patterns, r ltottgcs irt nrigration finds that "migration is a profoundly
gendered process
beginning with the Bracero program e94z-tg64), which constructed social
6rrl , , , r.orrvcntiunal explanations of men's migration in many cases do not
networks for sharing knowledge about and resources for migration but did
rrpltly to wonlcn" (2ooo, r3rz).
not provide opportunities for women to work in the United States. The 1965 ( llclrly, wc ncccl to understand better the nature of this shift in the gender
Immigration Law emphasized family reunification, which usually meant that ruttr;rositiott ol'trlltsnatitlnal migrants and what it means for women's work
wives and children of male migrants could legally join tlrerrr.'lhe Irrrmigration
nrrtl l,rrrrily expcricnces as well as women's identities and cultural expressions
Reform and Control Act of 1986 (rncn), which olll.rcrl unrncsty to migrants
Itr llrc tlrritetl Stiltcs nrrd in Mexico. Once women enter the migrant stream'
who could document their residency and crnpkryrrrerrt, prcscrrtetl clisa4van- Mexico,
llrey lirrtl tlre nrselvcs in the borclerlands between the United States and
tages to wumen, wh<l largely w.rkecl i' the irrirr'r*l see t'r., rrrrtl rirvrlretl rrrc', wlllt ltttporttrrt politicirl inrplicittions.
6 tN'l'lt()l)U(:'t,t(rN tN'l'll()l)u(;'l'l()N 7
 'lha l\litics turlt rtc trrrrt*rls ur krlk itrt, pcrlirt'nliurcc irrts likc tllrtcc or tltcittcr-pnrvidc
oJ''l ransnutionul Migrutlott
Emettllnl nre lul $l)rccs uncl r scnse of'lrclonging within their local communi-
In the political realm, migration fiom l,atin
Arnericu lrrs bec.n a flashpoint in tlgr rnd lrr tlre lurger, rkrnrinant society (Aparicio 2oo4i Iglesias and Fregoso
the United states, particularly visible in
california, wherc 4o percent of all mi- lggll, ltt pertlctrllr, popular culture provides important sites for contesting
grant Mexicans reside (Fry zooz). Anti-immigrant
proponents often assume FillVlrnr ertrl expkrring issues such as bilingualism, immigration, and racism.
that all Latinos-whether citizens or authorized
permanent residents-are ln the Grf nlexl ol'gkrtrrrliz.ation, migration, and marginalization as experienced
migrants and therefore "illegar" (De Gen
ouu ,oorj. A series of propositions
have been passed or proposed to control $ mury Mexicrrns-both migrants and citizens-cultural expressions are
the effects of a growing Latino pres- Sen lrey rllen lirr cxpressing language, rituals, and cultural memories, and for
ence: Proposition 63,"Engrish as the official
Language of california,,,passed in fHrnrlrrg I helr ident ities.
1986, was intended to preserve, protect,
and strengthen the English language; All ol tlrere tlevelopments have an impact in the United States, leading
Proposition r87, "Save Our Statei'passed
in ,,994,aimed to disallow..illegal F rlEttllicant sociul, economic, and cultural transformations, including
aliens"'use of education and health services,
but it was nullified by the courts th: gnrwtlt lrr tlrc (lhicana/o and Latina/o populations.ro The zooo census
as unconstitutional; Proposition
2og,"End Racial preference and Affirmative
FlGt|frlerl .174 nrillion l,atinos in the United States. Mexicans constituted 67
Action," passed in 1996, requires state-university
F€fccnt ol' lltose l,ittinos, who made vp 13.7 percent of the total population.
systems to dismantle race-
specific practices even though they
are required to meet federal affirmative-
lksordlng lo thosc numbers, Latinos had become the largest racial-ethnic
action laws; proposition zzT,"English
only', (the unz initiative),passed in r99g, fflinrrrlty group in the United States (U.S. Bureau of the Census zoo3),exceed-
requires a one-year transition to English-language
children; Proposition 54, the "color Blind"
instruction for all school- lq the proJections of the previous census, which had indicated that Latinos
initiative, defeated on 7 october frfuld ttut overtuke African Americans as the largest minority group until
2oo3' would have disallowed the collecting
of oficial statistics about racial l€lg,ll 'lhe lncrcuse in the numbers of Chicanos/Latinos in the United States
groups' since that practice supposedly
perpetuates racism. (The defeat was wlt mort pronounced in California, where they comprised nearly one-third
seen as a major victory for those
who value monitoring discrimination
against of thnl tttort populous state in the nation, and in Texas, which was 3t percent
racial groups and their institutional
underrepresentation.) These propositions ehlenrru/l,rrtlrto ('l'cxas State Data Center 1998).
mobilized citizens who felt they were
defending the state, as well as Latinos ln lalrrlenr with increased migration to the United States, policies have
and progressive voters who opposed
racist exclusionary regislation.
ftln€d ln Mexico toward what Jorge Durand (zoofi calls "shared responsi-
At the national level, congress ultimately
passed legislation that enforced btlttyl'Vleerrte liox, while a presidential candidate, made several highly pub-
some of the restrictionist sentiments propositio
in n rgT.The Illegar Immi_ llelged lrlps to carrrpaign in the United States. After he was elected president,
gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act, passed in 1996, restricted Fnl e realctl tlrc short-lived Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad and pro-
access to healthcare, except for emergency care,
for undocumented migrants mulg6lr(l u rliscourse about migrants being heroes to the nation, a discourse
and further entrenched the border
as a milita rized,zone with increased
border thEt, wlrlle e orrtroversial, signaled a change in how Mexicans regard those who
patrols and technology. In addition,labor
policy became integrally linked to le$ve, Severnl lcgislators in the Mexican congress had migrant experiences and
migration issues and patterns of investment.
This relationship was evident in rept'erenl tlrosc who migrate back and forth. Mexico extended dual nationality
the zoo4 u.S. electoral season, during
which various candidates promoted or hr Mt'xlt nrrs who lrecome American citizens as well as to their children (Levitt
opposed support for'bffshore" investment
in Latin America by u.s. corpora_ nrrl rlt lir l)elrcsa zoo3). Clearing the first hurdle in changing the constitution,
tions, for a guest-worker program, or
for making driver,s licenses available lhe Mexir'un congress passed legislation that enabled those living abroad to
to
undocumented immigrants (vieth and
chen zoo4).The negotiations between vule lrr Mexicirn clcctions, thus joining sixty other nations that allow migrants
President George w Bush and vicente
layed by the terrorist attacks of grn,have
Fox over new migration poricies, de_ Ilvolc lrr tlreir lirrmer countries'elections (Thompson zoo5). The Mexican
been watched closely on both sides
of the border., Envr,r'nnrerrt hls also increased funding to hometown associations that chan-
rrel tl,S, bnsetl rcsources in economic-development projects in Mexico and
For politically underrepresented and racially
suborclinatecl groups like ullett rrrrrlches what they contribute through a program called Three for One.
Mexicans, cultural expressions_literature
or film, p<lprrlnr lnusic, visual arts Sotrre ol llrc lt rlcrirt ions of hometown associations, especially those formed by

ll rnln<lr)uo,t'toN
lN'rRot)uc'rt()N 9
 ilttligcltotts rrril;r'llrls, iu.(.it(.livt.ilr llrc Illrilctl
Slitlcs lrrtl Mcxir.' ilrtl lntg*'11, tr'spottsihle lilr Mcxicittts'krw sociocconotttic stirtus (Ohavcz essay irr
a sourcc ol'idcntity and political ucrivity (ltrx rrrrtl l{ivcrrr-sulg14.
'l.,vitle
1..4). Ard lhlr vulrrrrrc).
fbminists contribute to clelrates about p<llitics,
cthnic groups, cltsscs, arrd parly ( ilrnrrges irr thc political, economic, and social environments in both coun-
affiliations in Mexico (Biron
ryg6),
one important consequence of increasecl migration lfler elurrgsirlc the changing character of fertility, employment, and migration
to the United states is hrve letl lo polarizecl debates about the appropriate constitution of national
growing attention to Mexican women's
fertility. overall, l,atinas have higher
fertility rates than caucasians, African Americans, Ctltttttutritics, ils well as the role of migrants in both nations (Chavez 2oo1;
or Asians and pacific f]hlvez essoy in this volume). "The nation is imagined in such a way as to
Islanders (Iohnson, Hill, and Heim zoor).In
part, this reflects the rarger num_
tUlfpterr{ lltc heterogeneity and routine border crossings of everyday life, as
ber of Latina women in their childbearing
years, with 5r percent of all Latinas
being between fourteen and forty-four
weller llre knowlcclge that different peoples with different and often opposing
years old, compared to
4z percent of hlrturleri cxist within the boundaries of the same territory" (Chapin 1998,
white women (u.s. Bureau of the census
zooo). Furthermore, foreign_born
Latinas have higher fertility rates than asr-6),
Latinas born in the United states, a
Mt'rlcrttr women are at the center of such immigration debates. Their
disparity that the demographer Hans
fohnson and colleagues (zoor) attribute Fltrorltrelivc llodies are represented as hostile and foreign, threatening the
partially to rRCA, which provided amnesty
predominately for young men,
who then brought over their spouses and l6slnl rnlbly nct and thus the well-being of the nation. Such representations
began families. Family reunification
thus created a baby boom, which is predicted Ethrlllrrle it lirrnr of social violence (Chavez ry97; Inda 2oo2; also see the
to be of short duration. Indeed,
fertility rates for foreign-born Latinas decrined ?lmyr lry ( )hlvez and Inda in this volume). As Renato Rosaldo suggests, "so-
between r99o and 1997. what
is critical for the qualityof life of
Elrl ntrrrlynls rteed to recognize the centrality of actual violence and the sym-
Mexicans in the united states is that women,.s
reproduction is disparaged as a threat hrller tlrnt shape that violen cd' (t997,3). Negative representations of Mexican
to the racial purity and weil-being of
the nation (Chavezessay in this volume).t, ffilgrattll, wonrcn in particular, mask the state-sanctioned structural violence
thrl prnlres sutljects into the migrant stream, as well as the social violence that
surprisingly, little attention has been paid
to the decline in Mexican Flgrntrtr ttegotiate in everyday life (Flores and Yaldez Curiel forthcoming).
woment fertility (chavez essay in this vorume).
In the earry the size ry70s of FUrl her', worttcn'.s economic contributions, creative adaptation strategies, cul-
Mexican American families averaged
4.4 persons, as opposed to 3.5 persons tufrl erxprcssions, and everyday contestations remain largely unrecognized in
for non-Latinos (Chavez essay in this volume).
In order to examine whether rcholnrcltip tnd in the media.
Mexican women's fertility continued to
decline, Leo Chavez undertook a sur-
Mexlenrr women have become keycontributors to the neweconomy,which
vey in ry92-93 of go3 Latinas and,
4zz white women that revealed that the itehsrne terizccl by flexible accumulation, borderless organizations of work,
fertility rate for u.s.-born Mexicans was r.gr
and for Anglos was t.27.Because
reproduction is z.o, these rates represent lnd llrt' expurrsion clf low-wage jobs, all of which are consequences of struc-
zero population growth for both l)isruptions in family life, brought on by migration and partici-
vh rlctrcc.
groups. Fertility has also been declining
lurol
in Mexico for severar decades. rn ptllrlrr lrr llrc labor market, present challenges for women who have come to
the lifetime number of children per woman ry7o
was 7.s;that figure declined to
lhe tlrrltctl Stirtcs in search of better lives and who cope with social violence
4.4by r98o, to 3.4 by r99o, and to 2.4by 2ooo (Hirsch tg98a,54o_4r;Chavez
essay in this volume). "Clearly Mexico
Itt tttl;4r'rrrrt cortununities and even within families. These changes have con-
has experienced dramatic decline in
fertility rates over the last few decades" (chavezessay lrlhrrlrtl lo thc development of new social identities and cultural formations
in this volume). fennifer lhnl 111611 within intersec-
ttitt ionrtl lrorders. Mexican women thus are situated
Hirsch (zoo3) attributes this decline to changing
beliefs about marriage, lkttu ol sigrrilicant political, economic, and social transformations that the
delays in bearing children, the spacing of births, and
increased contracep- tlinorttst's ott irttntigration, globalization, and Latin American and Chicano
tive use-processes found in the united
states as well. Moreover, u.s.-born, tlttrll('h lruvc lpproached in different ways.
second- and third-generation women
of Mexican origin have lower fertility
rates than either migrants or u.S. white
women. Despite these shifts in fertility,
Mexican woment reproduction is often
represente.cl as'ilgt .;f contr.l,,and

lo tN't'R()l)tJ(:,t'l()N
I N'rROl)UO',l't()N r r
 Irurullel Conversutiorrs ott Mexican lltc ittcreusc ol' fl'nrllc-lrcitdccl households that live in conditions of poverty
Women

Along with the feminization of migrant dcspitc ctnploynrent and irr exploitative working conditions on either side
streams, the incrcused ipcrlrporation
of women into the labor force has been ol'the lrorder. Chant (rg9r; essay in this volume) finds that households and
assessed using different analytical
frameworks in Mexico and the United Iubor ntarkets are linked and that women are more likely to enter the labor
States. current research on women
workers in Mexico demonstrates that Itturkct after becoming heads of households and when there is increased labor
the labor market is becoming femi-
nized'particularly in the agricultural sector, rlctttartd.tt
as more women are recruited for
seasonal jobs such as weeding, pranting, lixcellent case studies of women working in the maquiladoras indicate that
and occasionalry even harvesting.r3
Growing sources of women's employment prolirund changes are occurring as women face the challenges of physically
include industrial homework in
electronics (expanding as firms outsource tuxittg, gendered work and polluted work sites where women are subject to
production), manufacturing of
textiles or other products, and street rcxual harassment and surveillance.tu Not unlike processes occurring in the
vending. womensemployment in these
sectors is changing household dynamics Ilrrited States, women's incorporation into the labor force in Mexico draws
as women age or support families
on ott iutd often reinforces traditional ideological notions that a woman's place
their own.tn Sex work remains highly
stigmatized even as women attempt
to nlrould be within the home despite her contributions to household income
gain more control over the conditions
of such work (Lamas $96;Castafleda
et al. 1996). (l;owler-Salamini and Vaughan rgg4; Gonzillez de la Rocha ry84).t7 Further-
The Border Industrialization program (nrn), nrorc, Mexican families are adapting varied forms, ranging from extended
initiated in the r96os, at_
tracted more women to the U.S._Mexico lrouscholds to single-parent families, to cope with women's labor-market
border, one of the largest crossing
points in the world, and was based prrrticipation (Gonz6lez Montes and Tuflon Lg97). Similar to women workers
on gendered dynamics. The srp accelerated
the development of maquiradoras (factories elscwhere, Mexican women living in poverty construct complicated survival
that produce for export), which
targeted women as workers for "womens rtrittcgies through the use of social exchange among social networks and fic-
work,, that required ..nimble fin_
gers" and docility as well as participation livc kin, including what the anthropologist Carlos V6lez-Ibaflez (1983) calls
in gendered social activities such as
beauty pageants (Salzinger 2c,c,3;cravey "rituals of marginalityi' whereby they confront the conditions of poverty
rggg).since the factories at first pre-
dominantly employed women, they through organized resistance at work sites or within their communities.ls
stimurated mens migration to the united
States (Ferndndez-Kelry r9g3a, r9g3b, Within labor markets and work sites segregated by race and gender in
r9g3c). After restructuring in the
r98os, tlrc United States, Mexican women are also concentrated in "women's jobsi'
the factories employed more men as
weil (de la o Mart inez ry95). The srp
stimulated urbanization in border"twin with migrants at the bottom of the occupational structure in the secondary
cities,,- luarezand El paso, san Diego
and Tijuana, for exampre-which grew lnbrlr market.re These jobs are often nonunion, pay minimum wages, have
tremendously. The srp furthered the
integration of the U.s. and Mexican l'ew benefits, are seasonal and/or subject to displacement (e.g., in agriculture
economies and the fluidity of the border,
generating frequent crossings for or llarments), and often require relatively low training or educational levels
visiting, shopping, entertainment, and
the tltlrough the work itself may be quite difficult.2o Those working in the in-
like (ojeda de la pefra essay in this volume).
In the late rgaos the Reagan ad_
ministration launched the war against lirrrnal sector (e.g., domestic workers or day-care providers) are subject to
Drugs to counter the national-security
threat presented by the flow of drugs, irrcgular work hours, little oversight over the conditions of work, and few
particularly cocaine, heroin, and mari_
juana, across the u.s.-Mexico rccourses if their employers do not pay or underpay." Even workers who are
border through personal possession
or as cargo. Iocated in unionized sectors (e.g., food processing) find that unions are often
Increasing attention to narcotrafficking
stimulated violence within the border
region. uttrcsponsive to their particular needs, and union democracy struggles have
The border is a region where power bcctr waged over translating contracts and union meetings into Spanish and
structures of capitalism, potriarchy,
and clccting representatives who understand the needs of the Mexican workers."
racialization intersect, generating structural
violence that is most visible in the
deaths of migrants who cross the l)espite the passage of equal-employment-opportunity laws and increases
border and in the rise of coronias, commu_
nities characterizedby underdeveloped irt cclucational attainment by Mexican women born in the United States, pat-
or substandard housing, which can
be found on either side of the border. tcrtts <tf occupational segregation continue. Analysts suggest that this is due
structural violence is also apparent in
trt a combination of structural changes and vulnerabilities in human capital.
t2 I N't.R0D U(:T,toN
lN'l'Rot)u(:'t'toN t3
 Mcxicalts.liclt rcsidc ill rcgi.lt.s whcre
econ'nric restruclrrr.lrrg lrns rlisrnirrrtlecl
industries such as rtrc itttptlrtant dill'erences lretween migrant Mexican women and second- and
'steel tlr auto manufacturing which providerl
wcl-paying, lhirtl-gcneration women of Mexican heritage who work in secondary labor-
stable jobs and shifted to other
manufacturing sectors (garments, elcctr.nics)
that hire predominantry migrant tttrtrkct jotrs, particularly in how they perceive themselves as working mothers
women at low wages (ortiz tg96).Indeed,
some argue that migrant labor, particularly (scgura essay in this volume)." Some women migrate independently, while
that of women, is a central fea-
ture of a flexible, global economy.r, olltcrs rely on direct sponsorship or are accompanied by men.to Further-
Like electronics, the garment and food_
processing industries have undergone lllorc, women 'tonsolidate settlement" after immigration differently than
outsourcing to the Third world, and
the extent that they remain in to Ittett: through community-wide social networks that originate in women's
the united states, these industries increasingly
rely on migrant labor forces, especiaty wrtgc work, through women's relatively stable jobs, and through the utiliza-
women.r, when downsizing occurs,
those who have recentry moved lkrlt of private and public institutional forms of assistance, including credit
into jobs or up the job ladder (particularly
women) are vulnerable to lay offs, (llrrnclagneu-sotelo rygd.There is growing evidence that some transnational
long-term unemproyment, and stress.2s
These structural processes are Ittigr:tnts retain close ties with families, extended kin, social networks, or
fuered by increased immigration
and by em_ colttlnunities in Mexico through the construction of binational households or
ployers who prefer to hire migrants,
who often do not speak English, have
few skills that are marketable here (although lirrnilics.3t When speaking of poor Mexican women workers, then, one must
they may be well trained in their
home country), or are undocumented. olictt refer to processes occurring on both sides of the border, which are inte-
There is a clear rerationship between grnl to women's daily life experiences.
occupational segregation in low_wage
jobs and poverty. Mexicans
have disproportionately high rates
of poverty, and
contrary to expectations of upward
mobility through successive generations l\trudigm Shifts
born in the united states, Mexican poverty
rates remain disproportionately
high even by the third generation.'u l)elriltes about Mexican women are atthe center of four main paradigm shifts
Generaily, M.*i.uns make up the working
poor, where at least one member I tt i ttr rn igration studies, Chicana/o Studies, Latin American
Studies, and global
of the household has a low_wage job (Moore
and Pinderhughes 1993; Pastor forthcoming). rurttl nternational studies.
i
Mexicans in the southwest for
the most part experience structural lrrrrnigration has been the dominant paradigm for analyzing mobility
forces which produce poverty differently
than forces that aflbct other racial rlcross national boundaries and the dilemmas of settlement. Research in this
groups, notably African Americans
in the licltl typically examines linear processes, characterizedby identifying the im-
Midwest and on the East coast, where
deindustri alization,white flight, inner-
city residential segregation, employer
perceptions of blacks vs. migrants,
lteltts to immigrate, the receptivity or availability of jobs in the host nation,
and ittttl processes of adaptation and assimilation. Alejandro Portes and Rubdn
declining infrastructures create formidable
barriers to job creation. particu-
larly in the southwest, Mexicans Itttltlbaut, however, argue that "while assimilation may still represent the mas-
living in poverty are rikery to be located
suburban or rural areas. Like other
in tcr concept in the study of today's immigrants, the process is subject to too
racial groups, Mexicans have experienced
a feminization of poverty: lllillly contingencies and affected by too many variables to render the image
Mexican women consistently have higher
poverty ol'l relatively uniform and straightforward
rates than men within each generation, path credible" (zoor,45).With the
and the percentage of women heading
households below the poverty revel irrlcgration of gender and globalization, the portrait becomes more compli-
has increased (Treviflo et ar. rggg;
and Mafthei 1996).
Amott cittccl, with processes of adaptation becoming sites of cultural transformation

Mexican women in the United states itlttl human agency that have been little explored for Mexican women in the
(whether migrants or not) often
rely Urritcd states (notable exceptions include Hondagneu-sotelo t994, 2oot;
on their own resources and nurture
intense social networks that help them
rcnrdnclez- Kelly and Garcia 199o).
get through the vicis.situcles <lf poverty I
and social isolation.2T Grassroots, 'lhrough rigorous critique of assimilationistperspectives,Chicana/o
community-ba.secl <lrganizations Studies
are another venue through which
womeq scltolars demolished the cultural-deficiency arguments that had rationalized
struggle t. cha'gc the crairy conditions
of their lives, and Mexican women
are increasingly'rganiz.ing encuentros Mcxican subordination through internal cultural or social mechanisms when
(conferences or symposia) that
bring thcy dicl ttot assimilate. Until recently, research within Chicana/o Studies has
togcthcr activists rr.nr lroth sicre.s
of the border.2s Regarding famiry rife,
tht rc bccrr nationally rlr regionally lrased, with uneven attenti<tn to the diversity of
l4 lN',t'trot)U(:,t,t()N
lN'l'l{ot)1,,(:'t't()N t5
 wtlttlctl ttt
cx[rtf rlnlong lrcolrlc ol' Mcxieln or,illin (l(othrllo Ar.rrtlir r98r; lllrrcrir
ir'11c(.s
lllvtlr|| (r.tU.t) strggcst tlritl viOlerlcc or ltoltlolllttllliit lirrccs sot'llc
197il.'lhe two ntaior ideological franreworks thrrt guirled tlre (llricanu Move- lerrve l,urilr Arrrcrican countrics firr thc north in order ttl cscape the abuse and
ment and Chicano Studies Plan Espiritual dc Aztldn und /j/ Plun de Santa trt eottrilrttct tlrcir lives on their tlwn terms'
-El
l,atllr Arrrerican Studies has traditionally been concerned with
Barbara-articulated an agenda of self-determination and enrpowerment that the analy-
was fundamentally nationalistic and male-centered (Iiregoso and Chabram rlr ol rpccilic countries as well as with internal migration south of the U'S'-
influencing the
r990). Merlco bordcr. However, with migrant populations strongly
The early framework of Chicano Studies relied on actualizing a series of identities, Latin Americanists
€nlerl|ence 0f'new social, political, and ethnic
categorical opposites: a racialized class of colonized Chicanos (men) versus including migra-
hlve becorrrc increasingly concerned with global processes,
a superordinate class of Anglo colonizers; Chicano (male) activists versus research, theorists of
llOn lo tlrc Urrited states. Largely utilizing ethnographic
Mexican American assimilationists; and Chicana loyalists versus Chicana lh€ "rrew transnationalism" have shifted scholarly thinking from immigration
feminists. Chicana feminism was highly contested terrain where men chal- Lg95; Kearney
trr rnlgrrrtion (Glick Schiller, Basch, and Blanc-Szanton ry92,
lenged women activists as disloyal sell-outs if they strayed too far from the examining transnational
l9gta, r99Str).'these theorists suggest the necessityof
nationalist agenda. According to the undifferentiated nationalist text, racial networks, or identities as people move from one nation
to
€lfCrtlls, spilces,
oppression is primary, and all Chicanos are victims of white racism and have the great "waves" of
tn0tlrer yct retain ties to "sending communitiesl'While
their countries of
been oppressed more or less equally by all Anglo-Americans. This principle lmrillgrilnts to the United States often maintained ties with
predominated within the earliest Chicano texts that informed the first gen- Blanc-Szanton argue'
oflgln, Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch, and Cristina
are of a dif-
eration of Chicano scholarship (see, for example, Rodolfo Acufla's often-cited llte e rrrrent connections between migrants and home societies
Occupied America).Thus, the earliest blueprints for Chicano Studies did not draw on Saskia Sassen's
fefetrt ttrtlcr than those of previous generations' They
she recommends
situate women at the center of the intellectual or political paradigm (Alma ltnlyscs (1988,1998) of the global mobilityof labor,wherein
Garcia ry89, 1997; segura zoor). The growth of chicana feminism led to a "the particular historical and political context of the current mi-
eXArrrirring
fundamental shift in the analytic, male-centered core of "Chicano'discourse gralkrrr phase," which shifts over time and involves subjects
from multiple
in
toward an ever more inclusionary"chicana/o" studies framework. ntelul ftrcations (1988, 3). Thus, new circuits of capital, transformations
The economic and cultural impacts of globalization, however, are challeng- and the inability of mi-
technologies of transportation and communication,
ing Chicana/o Studies and scholars of Latina/o populations to incorporate the grant$ t0 lrecome fully incorporated into countries in which they settle help
local effects of global processes such as continuing migration from Mexican rtrrtnin transnational ties. Transnational theorists also advocate cultivating
immigrants
and Latin America, in particular with regard to their gendered character. s "bllircitl" orientation and examining "the processes by which
Scholars working within a Chicana/o Studies approach who research the of origin and their country
lrrrlltl social fields that link together their country
effects of migration from Mexico find significant tensions between Mexican economic, social, organtzational' religious'
r rl nct t lcm enti' including familial,

migrants and U.S.-born Chicanos and Mexican Americans regarding political nrrtl political relations that span national borders
(Glick Schiller, Basch, and
migrants (as opposed
agendas, ethnic identification, and cultural knowledge.,, In addition,u.S.-born
lllrrrrc Sz.anton t99z,ix).3a Th"y suggest use of the term
Mexican Americans experience competition with Latino migrants in the labor itttrrtigrants) to connote transnational ties when people
migrate from one
Iu
recently has the
market (Ruiz 1998; Segura L992; zavella ryg) and with African Americans r.rrlrrtry t<l another (Rouse 1gg2,Lggsa,1995b).However, only
(cranford essay in this volume; Mindiola, Flores Niemann, and Rodriguez lt'uttsttittional approach come to incorporate a gender analysis
that includes
zoor)'
zooz). Scholars are diversifying the one-dimensional portrait of Mexican- w(!11c1 (Glick Schiller and Fouron 2oo1; Hirsch 2oo3;Levitt
origin populations by emphasizing the challenges facing Mexican migrants Itcscarch in globalization literature has typically focused
on processes of
who speak Spanish or indigenous languages, as well as English-speaking, This lit-
er.onontic integration that occur irrespective of national boundaries'
U.S.-born Chicanos.33 Yvette Flores-ortiz (:9y) finds that the many tensions t r.rrtrrrc is characte rizedby macrolevel analysis of the increasing
interdepen-
generated by migration may exacerbate domestic violence in dysfunctional systems, and popular cultures,
tlt llcc .l' world economies, communications
changes' or
families through'iultural freezing|' where "tradition'and control are imposed lrrrt givcs inaclequate attention to everyday resistance, cultural
to cope with distressing disruptions. Lourdes Argi,ielles irrrd Ann labor tends
as a means slrirtcgics lor creating social meaning (Wallerstein 1976)'Women's

r6 rN'r'ROl)ucrloN TNTRODUCTION 17
 to bc situatcd withilr largcr artulysis ol'tlrc li'ugrrrerrluliorr rrrrtl tlclcrritorializn-
ltrtlirrg, tlrc scconcl syrrrposiuln, "Migrarrtcs Mcxicaltas ctr Ctlntcxttls
tion of production processes, internal migration flows, iurd cotrrrnodity chains 'll trrnnire iorrllcs: 'l'ratrajo, Familia y Actividades Politicos-Comunitariasl'held
(Applebaum and Bonacich zooo). Increasingly, scholars, policy makers,
and itt ( llrrrpnlu, Mcxico, on zz March 2oot, the participants presented research
social activists have to cope with processes that transcencl international
bor- relevsrrl to suclr cluestions.'Iwo critical needs became clear: the need for a
ders and transform work sites, worker cultures, and family lives; for
example, leXl orr Mcxican women that spanned the border; and the need to develop
the fact that women must contend with continuing state-sanctioned violence
lrlttalkrrrrrl rcsearch teams to pursue scholarly work on Mexican women.
along the u.s.-Mexico border and elsewhere (Fregoso 2oo3; Mohanty
ryg7; Perlrups tlrc most disturbing outcome of the symposium was its revelation
Schmidt camacho 2oo4a,zoo4b;wright essay in this volume). scholarlywork
6f the nlilny layers of violence that originate in structural dislocation and
on the transnational division of labor has theorized how social reproduction
pet trttirtc lanrily life, work sites, and interpersonal relations. Moreover, other
in dailylife is represented in the political economyof nations and in the global
lrey rprc.stions emerged: How are decisions made within households regard-
economy (wright zoo6; sassen 1998; Nash and Ferniindez-Kelly r9g3).At
the Ittg wlro lrrigrates and who remains behind? Under which circumstances do
microlevel, how people negotiate these larger social processes provides insight
l1gtlen tttigrate alone, with children, or other family members? In view of
for understanding how culture is created and communities are transformed. gftrlrnl intcrpenetration, how are new identities and social formations being
In this sense, transnational social networks, cultural expressions, and iden-
fccolilructe d on either side of the border by Mexican women? How are these
tities enhance survival in daily life and can promote contestation of global
fer'orrligurcd identities and social formations being represented in cultural
processes (velasco ortizessay in this volume; Malkin
ry97;Hurtado ry9). erpt'cl*siotts and imaginaries in the United States and Mexico?
Wlre p women become the center of the analysis, questions change and pre-

PlacingWomen at the Center vlrruly lrcld assumptions become subjects of inquiry. This anthology focuses

6tt Mexicun women, compiling recent research that incorporates important

Despite the magnitude of these economic and social transformations, of women's experiences,
little Pnlrrtligrrr shifts. The essays herein explore a range
research has included the voices and experiences of Mexican women. "tradition" to contestations of racist, patriarchal, and/
In- f f6trt rccgrrstructions of
deed, much of the research on men's experiences has failed to'include gt lrelcrgngrmative structures in work sites, families, popular culture, and the
gender
analysis that integrates ideologies of masculinity and femininity alongside
of rlete ,'lhc selections also explore women's abilities to maneuver within struc-
structural variations that generate unequal outcomes for men and women.
lrtlcs ol'power that are often brutal, whether it be by contesting personal or
This volume is part of the larger effort to make gender and gender
oppression polllicirl irtruse or by resisting discourses of state or social violence. This an-
central to studies of migration, Chicana/o studies, Latin American studies,
llrokrgy utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to reveal the poetics and perfor-
and studies of globalization. To initiate a cross-border dialogue that would
1t.1tce ol'Mexican women's agency, crafting a tapestry of voice and resistance
examine woment life chances at the systemic, cultural, and individual levels,
llrul spclks to their multiple realities.
we convened two binational symposia with the purposes of facilitating 'llrc Ojcda de la Pefla and Velasco Ortiz essays have been translated from
intel-
lectual exchanges between scholars from Mexico and California, interrogat-
S1rrrrrish to tinglish.These articles,alongwith the binational focus of some of the
ing the state of the field, sharing research findings, and developing a research t l,S, st'lrolars, deepen our analysis of women in Mexico and the United States.
agenda that put women at the center.The first symposium,"Mexican
women in lkrttr picces, originally published in Spanish, contain information spanning
Transnational context: Labor, Family and Migration," held at the university
of llre rt)tkrs and r99os, a key decade in that the migration of Mexican women
california, Santa cruz, on 23-z4April tggg,focused on dominant paradigms lrt.grrrrto increase dramatically. Hence, both essays interrogate the forces that
within studies of globalization, migration, chicana and Mexican womens so- prrslrccl wotnen into the migrant stream, such as the gendered construction of
cial identities, and cultural transformations in a transnational context. These
;ot iirl nctworks that facilitated the migration of women, including indigenous
studies included intersections between family and work, new family
forms, wolllcn, and frequent border crossings prior to increased militarization of
the role of social networks, resistance and empowerment, and different
modes tlrc borrlcr. Other essays discuss the promulgation of nativist discourses and
of women's cultural expressions.
grrrrcliccs that focused on women and families, as well as how racializat\on and

rll tN't'Rot)tJ(j't,t()N tN'I'RODUCTION l9

 sexualiT.ation profbundly aflbcted how Mexican wonlrn "tlut of control" and as
corrst ructecl ncw lives llllly, Mexic0p wonlen'.s rcprocluction is represented as
in the united States or through migration to the nurthe' b.rclcr region in
lnrgely responsible filr Mexicans' low socioeconomic status.
Mexico. under-
low rrrrdocumented migrant communities challenge conventional
I

rtutrlltrg ot' tegitimacy and citizenship forms the subject of Adelaida Del
gnrrlllr',r ,,lllcgal status and Social citizenship." Del castillo argues that the
Overview
the principle of
trErllthrnul tlelinition of citizenship by birthright contradicts
Part I, "Borderlands as Sites of Struggle," presents critical perspectives of the U.s. nation-
on the horrorlrrg l'rcc individual choice celebrated by the founders
ways in which globalization and nativist discourses in U.S. politics
Itnle, Slre highlights the role of women migrants in the adaptation
and the process'
state have influenced how Mexican women are treated and and benefits associated
represented. Al- tr they troth utilize and contribute to the resources
though these discourses became especially virulent in the 199os, of undocumented immi-
when the Wlf lr leggl citiz,enship. Noting that the persecution
presence of Mexican women migrants became more noticeable, a moral and political
they have and therefore violates
a long history. As racial-ethnic'bthers," Mexican women bear !r6ntr tlerrics their human rights
tftat transcends that of any one nation-state, she predicts more
the brunt of and
Ittlltorlty
nationalist, patriarchal, and heteronormative views that proliferate as transnational mi-
in the nt6re elrllcpges to conventional citizenship definitions
context of border economic development and migration from
Mexico to the
United States. Several essays discuss California, which is often ground lfalkrrr lttcreases across the globe.
zero for ln"'l,ooking Like a Lesbian "Eithne Luibheidpresents ahistoryof women's
contradictory anti-immigrant discourses. She
b'*ler c*rssings as subject to sexualization and homophobic surveillance.
In "Toward a Planetary civil society," Rosa Linda Fregoso explores (renamed the U'S'
the tfgufs thilt the Immigration and Naturalization Service
politics of gender extermination in northern Mexico, as seen within
the..ap- (lllllerrship and Immigration Services after 9/u) takes great pains to identify
parently random yet seemingly systematic appearance of brutally how
murdered lnrl exelucle foreign-born women believed to be lesbians. She illustrates
women's bodies and the equallyhorrific disappearance of manymorewomen.', for relations of power" at the
rerrrnllty tirnctions as a "dense transfer point
She situates this feminicide in the context of globalization u.s. residents-
along the U.S.- hortler nnd how Mexican migrants-in some cases permanent
Mexico border, which, despite increased enforcement followin g glrr,is and bodies'
a site Grf nleltt nncl negotiate assessments of their deportment, clothing'
of tremendous economic and social exchange among businesses, people,
and Ar pcrhaps the most repressive legislation monitoring Mexican migration'
goods, as well as of cooperative law enforcement for control was a turning
of the drug trade. lfr,rrlrtrsition r87 (passed in 1994, then nullified in the courts)
Fregoso argues that cultural representations informed by in sup-
discourses of glob- polnl orr the political scene, with thousands of U.S. citizens mobilizing
alization and misogyny deflect attention from the complicity
of the United porl ol' the act, which would purportedly "save Our State" from the negative
States and Mexican states in creating this climate of violence. "The value of Immigrant Life"
She reveals efl'rcts 0f"'illegal aliens," mainly Latinos. In
the competing narratives of the causes of gendered violence and "ni that blames mi-
the Ltna f61rrllrll Xavier Inda illuminates the exclusionary discourse
mds" (not one more murdered woman) transnational campaigns unemployment and
organized glnttts lirr the effects of globalization-especially rising
to counter negative representations of the disappeared and demand social that the
luxes *olten with deadly consequences for the migrants' He argues
justice for the crimes against them. of the nation while
logic ()l'biopolitics simultaneously protects the social body
Leo R. Chavez effectively dismantles nativist arguments that In particu-
would blame arrllroriz.ing a holocaust against the lives of those seen as a threat'
women for social problems that originate in binational social more dangerous
structures. In'A lnr, llte policy measures that would make border crossing
Glass Half Empty" he reports on a survey of go3 Latinas the Power
and. 4zzwhite women arrtl tlclry migrant women access to prenatal healthcare illustrate
that reveals that for both U.S.-born Mexican women and Anglos,
fertility rates ol llrc state to render some subjects expendable, members of an "unworthy
indicate zero population growth. Concurrently, fertility has been
declining ppptrlltipnJ' Ily this logic, Mexican women's fertility must be regulated so as to
in Mexico for several decades and U.S.-born, second- and third-generation state support
rllsr'ottritge their reproduction' whereas other women can access
women of Mexican origin have lower fertility rates than either immigrants
lot' tlteir reproductive health needs.
or white American women. Chavez questions why despite these shifts
in fl,r- ( )Ollcctively, the essays in part I illustrate the structural and symbolic vio-

2C) lN't'lt()t)t,(;,t,t()N INTRODUCTION 21

 lcltcc pcrpctratccl against Mexican wonlcn,
wlriclr r..rrrrslilutes vi6lati<tns rl1. llre tcrrr,i6trs lssociatctl with rtraitrtaitting this intage reverberate with the
individual and collective human rights. Nativist
discourses thlt lirster highly Gp6tt,H(llctipls 9l'gcnder, class, and lclcation when the master narratives
are
polarized debates about the impact of development
ancl inrnrigratign justify sttttlerlerll tltitt is, ctlrporate leaders deny any connection to feminicide along
the misogyny and poor treatment that women
experience in their daily lives. dis-
the 116rtler., tlrcrcby erasing the women even as their families and activists
Increasing mobility across and within the political
and social borderlands in their counterstories'
not only disrupts conventional notions of legitimacy |rule lltesc reprcsentations
and citizenship but also Itt "ltlpe as a Weapon of War" Sylvanna Falc6n analyzes women's stories
highlights women's adaptation and agency.
Part II explores "The Topography of violence,"
tfitl lenlirrrolries. She finds multiple instances of abuse by members of the
illustrating how structural Itnlrlgrltiolr and Naturalization Service (INs), where women are intimidated,
violence leads to and is intertwined with multifaceted
interpersonal, psychic, is the outcome
hlrgnr*etl, rrrrcl sexually assaulted. She argues that sexual violence
spiritual, or institutional violence perpetrated
against Mexican women. In ttf llre rrrilitlrization of the U.S.-Mexico border, a war zone where colonialism,
charting this landscape of pain and survival,
the essays in this section render pftrlurelry, and hypermasculinity are interconnected in the perpetration of
graphic stories of women's resilience and
organization against misogynist firllllurlzctl rape. She charts the deployment of low-intensity-conflict policies
discourses in Mexico, the United States, and
the institutions that regulate their
integration'Thty also point out that abuses are too lltd lsx lriring practices that allow repeat abusers and rogue mercenaries to
often unseen or unnoticed, finrl errrployment in the rNs. Analyzing formal complaints filed by women,
so women must find their own ways to cope,
resist, and tell their stories, in_
rlte argucs that militarized rapes are integral to maintaining control at the
spiring others with their strength and courage.
burtler "rt ltlrm of state violence against women'
Leslie salzinger interrogates how the organi
zationof work structures un- ltr "Nunca he dejado de tener terror" (I have never been without terror),
equal gender relations in "Manufacturing
Sexual Subjects."with a keen eye for (ilrrrl6 (i6nz.illez-Lopez analyzes the psychological effects of the violence
detail' she illustrates the ways in which women
workers are held accountable elperierrcccl by women in Mexico and the United States. She explores the
to an idealized notion of femininity, which includes
dressing to accentuate lntet,pcrsonal and emotional violence-kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual
their physical features and flirting. The male gaze
of supervisors is legiti- hnrststttctrt, date rape, and incest perpetrated by men, as well as silencing
mated as essential for monitoring quality and
efficiency in production but nreetrllisms within families-as factors contributing to women's migration.
typically intrudes into women's private spaces
through touching, teasing, and Mrrretrvcr, Gonzillez-L6pez asserts, Mexican women often endure interper-
overt sexual overtones. Although such behaviors
are typically categorized as lrrrul irsslults and their long-term effects on both sides of the border. She also
sexual harassment, Salzinger argues against
using that particular framework.
tllre rrsscs the discursive notions that blame women for their"failures" to retain
Rather, she asserts an analysis of sexuality
and desire as key organizing prin_
lhe lr "virtue"-such the availability of reconstructive surgery to reinstate
as
ciples within the maquiladoras, which turns
the focus awayfrom individual lnlu('t ltyrnens in order to restore cultural "purity"-as forms of power and
actors-victim and victimizer-toward a structure
that produces both goods r rrrrtrol. Ultimately, Gonzillez-Lopez recognizes women's
struggles to reclaim
and "docile and dexterous,'women workers.
llrcir livcs from the terror, establish support groups, socialize their daughters
Melissa W.Wright explores gendered discourse
at the border from another nrrtl s61s to value nonviolent ways of being, and form healthy relationships.
perspective in "The Dialectics of stitl Lifel'she
deploys the concept..dialec- 'l5c essays in this part resonate with those in part I that explored gendered
tical image," an image whose apparent stillness
obscures the clashing forces tlisceurses at the national and state level, particularly analyses of gendered
that create the "Mexican woman." Further, she
presents a turnover story, told viplclcc tgward women workers and border crossers. Collectively, they illus-
by maquila administrators, whereby the Mexicur,
*o-un is characterized as trltc t5c multiple divides that Mexican women must negotiate, whether in
uncommitted to the job, nervous, and..untrainablei,
thereby losing value to Me xic6, the United States, or in transit between the two nations.
the firm. Eventually, her life is stilled, as she
becomes waste to be discarded t,irrt lll,"r-lexible Accumulation and Resistancel'reveals shifts in agricul-
through job departure. when maquila workers
exercise their agency by seek- trrrll lielcls, industrial homework, domestic work, janitorial labor organizing,
ing better jobs, they are represented as adventure-seeking
and heedless of rrrrtl t5c clivision of labor. Key themes in this section include the gendered
danger, a depiction that deflects attention
away from
the multiple cause.s of rrntl scxutrliz,ed organization of work, the political economy of risk among
women's deaths and the fact that few victims
are actually maquila wrlrkcrs. wgrkilg-class subjects, Mexican wclmen'.s participation in the reorganization
22 tN't'R()t)uo1'toN
tN'l'Rol)u(:'l'l()N 23
 ol'social rcProclttclittlt, atttl workcrs'rcsislrtrrce
lo lrrhor.cxpkritirti.rr art4 rsltrllliorrs,'llris ussertion olicn putts tltcnr at odds with cnrployers, whtl olien
jectification of their bodies. Employers'strategics '5-
t, refirrc lirb.r pllcesses to reek grerrter llcxibility in job definitions, working conditions, and pay.
maximize output while minimizing workers'agency
pose critical challenges 'llre drive firr flexible organization of work through the expansion of
for women workers,labor organizers,
Ggntract, tcntporary, and informal employment is a key feature of global
and employers.
The centrality of sexuality to labor
srpllellrrn. How employers seek and workers resist job "flexibility" forms the
control and workplace relations is not
specific to any one country or occupation,
as X6chitl castafleda and patricia
Ggfe gl'( )yrrthia Cranford's analysis of community unionism among
janitorial
zavella vividly demonstrate in "changing
constructions of sexuality and Wgrkert irr l,os Angeles. Cranford argues that the growth of precarious jobs
Riskl'The authors illustrate how Mexican
women constantly negotiate be- Chlracterizcd by low wages, few benefits, little job security, and poor work-
tween the contradictorydiscourses of
gendered sexualityand feminine mod-
esty' women wear clothes to cover
lltg cgrrtlitions has led to the development of oppositional politics contesting
themselves from the male gaze and,sexual
Unequ6l rclations of gender and citizenship as well as class. Well aware of the
abuse by co-workers and supervisors
as they bend over in front of men
pick the crops' women also express a
to tllleprrtr,rs l'aced by migrant workers, in particular undocumented workers,
sexuality that is silent on the subiect ( jforrlirrtl attributes the success of |ustice for )anitors to strategic legal action,
condom use due to the cultural dictum
of
that..decent,,women do rr;; ,"u.
questions' and they thereby become
,".n dlreet rrction, and symbolic action.Women are well represented in the union,
subject to the 'political economy of risk.,,
lendllrg lirrther weight to Cranford's assertion that the janitors'entitlement
ultimately' women develop survival mechanisms
that increasingly transgress ctglrrri ftirve a strong potential to disrupt a gendered and racialized hegemony
traditional gendered boundaries and challenge
restrictive sexual discourses, of llexibility operating in the increasingly diverse city.
creating their own poetics of desire
and new subjectivities regarding their Ar rrurratives of struggle and resistance, the essays in part III reveal how
work and their bodies.
w6nlel's work across formal and informal settings intersects with state-
women's cruciar work in alleviating economic pressures within low_
income households also initiates spatial
ttttctIrrred hegemonic narratives of appropriate versus inappropriate spaces
and social dynamics that challenge tlrl uctivities. When women transgress these definitions, they become objec-
patriarchal restrictions on their mobility.
and work"'argues that the integration
Faranak Miraftab, in..Space, Gender,
tllietl rrrrd subject to a broad spectrum of violence at work as well as in the
of informal production into the homes
hglre,'lheir resistance identifies holes in the exploitative organization of work
of low-income families (i.e., maquila subcontra.iirrg;
changes the organi_ nnrl rrll'crs new ways to effectively organize the so-called"unorganizablei'
zation of space and the gender-based
division of labor. Miraftab observes l,1rt IV "Family Formations and Transnational Social Networksi' presents
that installing a sewing machine, for example,
alongside other components reteurch by Mexican scholars based in Mexico and scholars based in the
necessary for labor subcontracting
requires the entire family to modify analyze how the effects of global economic trans-
utilization and that leads in turn to other
space tllllcd States. The articles
changes in the household division eelions in the cities and rural areas of Mexico and the United States disrupt
of labor to facilitate women's economic
output. Men,s increasing participation tlre trirclitional rhythms of daily life or draw women into the migrant stream.
in social reproduction within the famiry-workshop
environment provides an 'llrc intersection of the social organization of a womatis home and family
important albeit understudied avenue
of social .h"rrg.. provides the context for womert's migration and sets the stage
et prrprrric need
Mexican women express agency in various
*uy, i' informal_sector work. 1rr croding patriarchal privilege. Familism emerges as a key dynamic that can
Maria de la Luz Ibarra, in "Mexican Immigrant
to
tic Labori'argues that Mexican women
Women and the New Domes_
frrstily women's migration, employment, and redefinition of motherhood
are reorganizing social reproduction. Irrcorprlrate a transborder and transnational structure.
Global and national economic processes
have red to a huge demand for new ( )1e of the most significant developments of migration within Mexico and
forms of domestic labor centered on
human care, including adult or elder
care 11 thc United States is the emergence of transborder families, argues Norma
as well as childcare. The new domestic
labor positions human care on one ( )jcda de la Pefla in "Transborder Families and Gendered Trajectories of
side of the desirability scale and independent
housekeeping work at the other Migration and Workl'Ojeda de la Pefla is one of the first Mexican scholars
end' Both are forms of sociaily necessary
labor that Mexican migrant women rp situate migration within the context of the family life course. Her analysis
engage in and increasingly redefine
to assert boundaries and better working r.cvcals the impact of marriage, the birth of children, the departure of children,

24 TNTRODUCTToN
TNTRODUC'l'loN 25
 alttl clivorcc ott tttigr:ttiolt atltl w'rk. slre
illusrrnles lhc irrrp.rlarrcc.l'nrigra- [y[1.S.-llgrrr (or Iung-tcrnr-rcsidcrrt) (]hicanas whose patriarchal
tion and transmigration on the fbrmation Ftprerrt.tl
rcproducti'rr .l',,lransb<)rcler,,
arrd
rlf trt.ltrr,c ls lirrrtlnnrcntally classed and centers on the desirability of stay-at-
families who reside in Tijuana, Mexico.
That is, internal rncl intcrnational mi-
gration have converged in a"unique hrttte tttolhcrhootl.'lhis linding suggests that a number of employment prob-
crossing zone,,where migrants help shape "traditional"
the local' social, and demographic lemr (e,g,, trtrunployment, underemployment) are related less to
environment as family members work language,labor-market
in the United States and Mexico.
both Me*lcnrr e trlturll configurations than to such factors as

Presenting migration through thevoice llfttslttre, rttttl Policies.

concern of Mexican and u.s.-based
of indigenous women is a growing
lflerref tc lltlndagneu-Sotelo and Ernestine Avila, in "'I'm Here, but I'm
scholars. Lu,rru v.lusco ortiz, -lherej
in.,womens " cxtclld the range of analysis of the articles in this section to consider
Migration and Household Survival Strategiesl,
demonstrates that migration "for"
within Mexico-for example, from Oaxaca hrtw lrlrrrigrtnt women mother across national borders while working
to Tijuana, or circular migra_ lhe tnrtrlly.'lhey illustrate how migration creates new family forms, includ-
tion-is a household strategy driven by global
macroeconomic disruptions in
rural life in southern Mexico. The decision lng nherrrrrtc constructions of motherhood that contradict dominant white,
to migrate reflects power
among household members. velasco
relations mllrlle cllss American models, as well as Latinas' ideological notions of
ortizfinds that women are more likely in occupations
than men to migrate to urban cities m6llrcrlrgpcl. Although transnational mothers work segre-
in Mexico, where they can more easily nclcr, race, class, nationality, and citizenship, their wages are critical
find work as street vendors and domestic llletl [y ge
workers. Gendered preferences for
urban migration are bound, however, Frr tlre well-bcing of their families in their countries of origin.
to the life cycle, since women can easly 'llte csslys in this part demonstrate that as women develop strategies to
reconcile childrearing with street vending
and different types of domestic
work' Thus' gendered strategies for survival f€rlregi economic need, they challenge deeply gendered boundaries of family
fuel migration in ways that allow familism in ways
States, and deploy
a degree of autonomy for women. tfltl wlrk in lroth Mexico and the United
women's increasing desire for autonomy thal exterrcl their economic and social agency. Moreover, idealized notions of
is part of larger sociar phenome_
non reflected in the growth of single-parent
a
hnrlly urrrl rnotherhood are constantly being recrafted to maximize women's
families, argues syrvia chant in mobilitY.
"single-Parent Famiries: choice Ittrvlvnl rrrrcl
or constraint?,, while many female_headed
"'ti.rlrsculturation and Identity in Daily Lifel'the final part of this volume,
families are a result of male abandonment,
chant,s research points to a rise in expressions and social identities that
women electing to leave untenable Ff€tents unalyses about women's cultural
marriages and, uniones libres.These women divides, including the Internet.
quickly stabilize their incomes to a level rperr tlre LJ.S,-Mexico border and other social
close to those of households headed 'lhe essnys in this section reflect on the multiple changes that Mexican women
by men that do not have other income
earners. Most important, children
female-headed households are being
in 6egollrrle while migrating, settling in new sites, or creating cultural visions of
sociarized to engage in the work asso_
ciated with running a household, r unutttutity and family.
which has significant implications for
future' including changes to the patriarchal
the ltr "lteprocluction of Gender Relations in the Mexican Community of
division of labor and the ideology
of family solidarity or familism. Nr.w l{6c[elle, New York]'Victoria Malkin illustrates the process of Mexican

In "working at Motherhood" Denise re,lllerrrcnt outside the Southwest. Mexican women are late to settle in rural
Segura examines how women deproy
familism to carve greater economic Ncw Y6rk relative to other regions and"are arriving in uncharted territory: no
decision-making authority in family
and employment decisions in the rrrhslitrttiirl cohort of women preceded them to help their passage." Drawing
united states. segura argues that womens prr licltl rcsearch in NewYork and Mexico, she argues that men have assumed
attachment to their jobs and feelings
about being employed mothers is not
negatively affected by so-cailed traditionar positions of power they often held in Mexico and that women situate their
(i.e., rural) Mexican curture.
canas'and Mexican immigrant women's
chi_ llves irr rclttion to families, reproducing gender relations in the new site. She
constructions of motherhood reflect
two diffferent systems of patriarchy. For lllrrstr.ttcs how Mexicans construct transnational social networks and a sense
Mexican immigrant women, patri_ pl t,61rllunity with one another, fellow residents, and staff in social agencies.
archy takes the form of a corporate
family model in which alr members are
expected to contribute to the common Nnviglting a veritable "minefield of contradictory practicesl'Mexican women
good. This form of familism allows
r orrst rtrct viable social identities attentive to the discursive and material
con-
women to work outside the home without
feeling the guilt and ambivalencc nlruilrts within local spaces. Malkin argues that contradictions in women's
z6 rNTRoDUcrroN
lN'rRoDUO'rloN 27
 livc's actually lirrrrr ol'thcir rrrultiple subjcct p'siri'rrs
Part irrrtl, hcpcc, c.,rrr'lcx "rte,rtlt,tl irrrlgirrutivc cartogruplrics ol'itlentilicatitttt through their participa-
identities.
llurr lrr tlre Sclcna phenomenonl' Paredez situates Latinas'subjectivity in the
In "En el norte la mujer manda"
fennifer Hirsch suggests that changes in Fm1rtftlrnlty laden and fraught context of Latinidad within popular culture,
marriage and daily life comes from multiple
sources. Based on field research afgllng llrrrt t,atinas perform Selena as a means of self-discovery and collec-
and the life histories of thirteen women in
Atlanta, Georgia, and of their llve ertlculltion of l.atina identity within the contested terrains of Latinidad
mothers and sisters or sisters-in-law in two
communities in falisco, Hirsch ltrl lurger trarrsnational imaginaries. She points to the fact that Mexican
finds important generational shifts in cultural
values and normative practices. W{xllen nre in dialogue with racial-ethnic others from diverse Latin American
In general, older women adhere to notions of respeto (respect)
and deference herlluges irrrcl construct occasional nationalist moments as well as pan-Latina
to males in marriage, which limits their openness
and closeness with spouses. lffillstkrns,
Young women are more likely to embrace
and work out an ethos of confianza lybcrbrides and Global Imaginaries" Felicity Schaeffer-Grabiel focuses
Irr "(
(trust), sexual intimacy, and emotional
closeness and to view their spouses as
6t1 llre cylrcr-expressions of middle-class, professional women in Mexico seek-
peers' Further, el norteprovides options
unavailable to women in rural Mexico
Ittg lo reulizc fantasies about "the American way of life'through international
and thus provides a context for a shift to greater
egalitarianism in gender rela- lttolr,hrrrnking industries. Her interviews with women reveal their strong desire
tions.
t6 e:cupe lrom traditional value systems in families, a corrupt and unstable
In "unruly passions" olga Nrrjera-Ra mirez considers
womanhood. Women in
lovet'nnlcttt, and confining notions of gender and
womens perfor_
mances of the Mexican ranchera,.hn expressive
musical form intimately as_ her rtrrtly rcprresent Mexican men as macho and therefore unaPPealing,which
sociated with Mexican cultural identity on
both sides of the u.s.-Mexico bor- lenrlr lrcr to consider the uneven and contradictory global imagination of
der." Attentive to the dismissal of rancheras
as sentimental, she views them as
wuntcn urrcl men through the lens of "two countries whose differences mark
an evocative form of melodrama, perhaps
akin to the blues, whose popularity lhe rlte ol'desire." By shifting their imaginary to transnational citizenship,
surged with the urbanization of Mexico
and migration to the united states.
Merlggrr women construct fluid identities and enhance their prospects for
She argues that rancheras are "discursive
spaces in which topics of emotional improvement, and social and material opportunities.
lnl I ttt uc y, scl f-
weight may be addressed in culturally appropriate
ways: Femare participants lly cxploring multiple sites of gendered control and contestation, the essays
in rancheras, whether as skilled performers expressing
nuances of identity ln lhlr volume reveal the complex representations, experiences, and identities
through lyrics or body language, or as members
of the audience attuned to thal Mcxican women construct in the context established by globalization,
the performances' are often oriented toward
Mexico in their yearnings. simul- lfgtprrrrliorral migration, and social formations and imaginaries that span
taneously, rancheras express the multiple
poetics and feelingr_rror,ulgia, re_ pelfirrrll borders. Th.y explore women's complex yearnings in light of nativ-
gret, and wonder-that migration and settlement produces, revealing womens
hl ;rolitics in the United States and silencing discourse in Mexico, as well as
stories and identities in the United States.
Ir arlltional gendered expectations that would constrain women's live. Within
In "Becoming selena, Becoming Latina', Deborah paredez analyzes how
llrerc slructural and socially violent discourses, Mexican women enact the
young Latinas "become" the popular performance
artist Selena, all the while Irrll lrrngc of human agency and challenge narrow notions of citizenship and
revealing processes of racialized sexualityand
sociopolitical identification that r onrrrrurtity in the borderlands.
respond to hostile nativist projects and override
the constraints on individual
constructions of identity. prior to her death
at the age of twenty-three, Selena
had received worldwide acclaim for her interventions Nrtft's
in the male-dominated
Tejano music scene and for her invention
of herself as a good girl who nego_ r Mcrrr[crs of the Transborder Consortium, which includes scholars and activists from
tiated family, community, and sexuality with
grace and charm. popular in the tlrc Ssutfiwest Institute for Research on Women, University of Arizona, Colegio de la
united States and Latin America, Selena became
an icon of independence llrrrnlcra Norte, f ijuana, and El Colegio de Sonora, went through a similar Process.
and sexuality. Paredez suggests that Selena's Scc l)cttttran, Monk, and Ojeda de la Pefla zoo4.
simultaneous maintenance of her
Tejana identity and her claims to the space r Wlrilc liirrutcr is most interested in how structural violence impedes access to health
of Latinidad (Latina/o identities)
through her musical style and body are compelling we irrgue that structural violence has broader consequences, such as impeding
( i1,(.,
to young Latinas who have

z8 rNTRoDUcrroN
rN'TRODUCTION 29
 Ititrlicip.li'tt itt llte litbtlr tttarkcl'r lhr,trl4lr rrcgrtrlvc rcpr.tscrrrirli.'s
women. 'l.Mcxicarr lln('z t(r95i lrcrnilntlcz-Kelly r9tl3l, r9tl3b, r9ll.1c; Perla r992; lglesias-Prieto rggZ; Ruiz
3 Itor exceptions, see Barrera and
Oehmichen Bazdn zooo; Mulrrntcrt
nnrl'l'iittro r9tl7; Srllz.irrgcr 2o03.
t999; and Stephen
2Oo5. tl Al ottr. litnc, Mcxicarr law required women to have formalwritten permission from
4 Also see Michaelsen and /ohnson llrt'il hrrsbtntls rs u precondition foremployment. In the r97os about two-thirds of
1997.
5 According to Portes, Guarnizo, and Mcxicurr ltusbands had the final say on whether their wives took a job (Elmendorf
Landolt, "It is preferable to limit
the concept of .u77l'.
transnationalism to occupations and activities that
require regular and sustained so-
cial contacts over time across national
borders for their implementation, (1999,
ti Alro scc'l'cresa Carrillo 1998; de Oliveira zooo;Diaz Barriga ryg6; Gonzdlez dela
6 A third approach' centered in European zr9). Itor ltl r994; Gonz6lez Montes 1993; Herndndez-Castillo zoor; Pefla 1997; Tirado
scholarship, views transnationalism
as a shift
beyond the nation-state to political I u.).1,
claims based on universal rights,
memberships ru
in political organizations that include lror rlisclrssions of Latina/os and occupational segregation in the labor market, see
multiple states (e.g., the European
or pan-religious affiliations such as union), ( lrrlrrrrzarite zooo; Lamphere et al. 1993; Mauricio Gast6n Institute ry94; Ortiz t994;
Muslims (Levitt zoor). There are very
few texts Scgrr rir r 9ll9a, ry9r; Zavella r98 4, t987.
this approach and focus on Mexican
women, so we have not included
;:::."*" any ln liol rcscarch on agricultural labor, including women's struggles, see Buss rggl; Griffith
7 For a discussion of this traditional
u.S. production-Mexico-social
r,l irl, r994; Herr Harthorn 2oo3.
reproduction ll l(rriz rqttz; Romero rygz;Salzinser r99r; Ibarra 2oo2,2oo3a, zoo3b, and essay in this
nexus, see palerm and Urquiola
ry93.
8 Marcelo suarez-orozco notes that
in 1996 remittances were the largest
vr rlrr rrrc; Hondagneu-Sotelo r99 4, 2oor.
sources of for-
eign exchanges in Mexico (1998'
ro). He further estimates that remittances
tt Willirrrrr V. Flores ry97;Friaz r99r; Lamphere and Zavella rggz; Soldatenko t99yZa-
to Mexico vclll r9tl7 1988.
were "equivalent to
57 percentof the foreign exchange available
through direct invest-
ment in rgg5, and 5 percent of the
total incom. ,upfli"d by exports,,(rggg,
tt Srrsscn r988;Morales and Bonilla 1993; Morales and Ong r99r.
ro). t4
9 President Bush's announcement
ab
lrcrrrilndez-Kelly and Garcia r99Z; Hossfeld ryg+; Lamphere, Stepick, and Grenier

:t; ffi:#il,i:3ffi ff :ff ",ffi:j

m i grants sp arke d a dram ati c,".,. 1u94,

seven months of the fiscal year beginning in fall ": rt lior rcsearch on the effects of plant closures on Latina/o workers, see Borrego and
of zoo3,detentions increased 3o
percent overall on the u's'-Mexico Zrrvclla zooo; Castro, Romero, and Cervantes 1987; Romero, Castro, and Cervantes
border and increased 56 percent in
the Tucson ruttt'l; Zavella 2oo2.
sector' which includes most of the
Arizona-Mexico border and is the busiest
route for t6 lrrycs-llautista, Schink, and Chapa r99z; Hurtado et al. ry92;Perez and Martinezrgg3;
undocumented migration (Gold I
zoo4).
10 The term chicana/o refers to people lirslor zoo3 and forthcoming.
of Mexican descent in the unite
d,states.Latina/o
is a broader term that typically
refers to people of Latin American
ti Jirrr rcsearch on adaptation to poverty, see V6lez-Ibanez and Greenbergrygz;Yllez-
heritage, which
also includes Mexicans' Latino is llrirrjcz rgg:;Edin and Lein ry97;Chaveztgg2; Hondagneu-Sotelo 1994; Palerm r99u
often used interchangeably with
the term Hispanic. Zirbin et al.ry93.Also see Hurtado 1994.
Chicanas and Latinas are women.
11 According to the zooo census,
African Americans constituted r3 percent
lll lrrr rcsearch on grassroots organizing, see Hondagneu-Sotelo 1998; Pardo r99o, r998a,
of the popu- For works on binational encuentros by women activists, see Teresa Carrillo
lation' Latinos were undoubtedly 1r19tlb.
undercounted by the census, which
often missed Sampaio zooz, zoo 4.
migrants and the undocumented. 1 tlr,ptl;

t2 The sierra club' for example, debated advocating tt) lrrr rcsearch comparing Chicanas'and Mexicanas'self-perceptions about combining
limits on immigration because of
their stance on population contror (werbach work and motherhood, see Segura r99r and essay in this volume; Hirsch zoo3. Guen-
zoo4).Eventuaily the group broke
two factions over this issue. into rk'lrntrn et al. zoor compares Mexican immigrants with those living in Mexico regard-
13 For a discussion of the feminization irrg their orientations toward motherhood. For other studies on Mexican immigrant
of the agriculturar labor force in
Latin America, wonrcn, see Cardenas and Flores 1986; Decierdo r99u Melville 1978; Sol6rzano-Torres
see Sara Maria Lara Flores
ry95; Gonzillez Montes and Salles 1995.
14 Arias and Wilson ry97;Behar 1993; Beneria r9tt7; ltuiz. 1987; Ibarra essay in this volume.
and Roldrln rggz; Chant
Marin r99g; Latin American Data Base ry94; Gonzllez to lior circurnstances where most women migrated only with male sponsorship, see
zoo4; Mirattab 1996 essay in this
Stephen
volume; ( lhirvira-Prado r992.
zoo5.
15 Gonzdlez de la Rocha 1r (irrrrtlsorr-l,awes ry92,t993tHondagneu-SoteloandAvilaessayinthisvolume;Palerm
ryg4; Lopez Estrada zooz; Tabuenca c6rdoba
r99g; Tuflon t99t.
Pablos zoor.
t6 For research on the srp and its
complex effects on the border region, u llrrrwrtirtg urtd clc lt (irrz.a r9U6; l)avicl G.Gutidrrez 1995; Keefe and Padilla ry87;Ortiz
see de Ia o Mnr- r996; l{occo r997.
3O INTRODUCTION
tN't't{ot)tr(;'l't()N jt
 A book in the series W(IMEII AND MIGRATI(I}I
LATIN AMERICA OTHERWISE:
LANGUAGES, EMPIRES, NATIONS
I1{ THE U.S..MEXIC(I B(IRDERLAI{DS
Series editors:

Walter D. Mignolo, Duke University

Irene Silverblatt, Duke University

Sonia Saldivar-Hull, University A READER

of Texas, San Antonio

EDITED BY DENISE A. SEGURA

AND PATRICIA ZAVF'LLA

Duke University Press

DURHAM AND LONDON

2007