Studies of Migration, Violence and Transnational Relations in the Latin America–U.S. Circuit

Violence-produced migration in combination with or in addition to migration that results from economic distress—in some cases the result of violence itself—is at the core of three recent studies of Latin American–US migration. All three studies adopt a transnational/transregional/translocal perspective. Although this is not by any means a new approach—the work by P. Levitt, The Transnational Villagers (UC Press, 2001) on Dominicans or D. Kyle Transnational Peasants (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000) on Ecuadorians are excellent examples of early transnational work—these new studies use diverse innovative approaches that follow migrants over time and through different places, from their departure, transit, arrival to their periodic or permanent return. The research carried out by the authors over extended periods of time in the various places migrants go through as they move is what makes these innovative approaches possible. Another characteristic of these studies is the attention they pay to the locality, and to the region, though not at the expense of ignoring the national dimension of migration when the analysis of aspects concerning the nation-state requires it. Finally, a common topic addressed by two of the authors in their study of Peruvian and Guatemalan migration is the analysis of the effect of migration on ethnic hierarchies and racism both in their countries of origin and destination. This topic is highly pertinent to Latin America, particularly when migration comes from regions with high numbers of Indigenous populations.

Economic geography · Ethnic group · Geography · Immigration · Indigenous · Latin Americans · Political economy · Political science · Racism · Sociology · State (computer science) · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy