Suchergebnisse

A substantial portion of Guatemala's population—about 10—15 percent of a population of 12 million—emigrates to the United States. Although this northward movement has produced significant social change, few studies have examined it from the perspective of the increasing involvement of household structures in transnational migration processes. Ethnographic research focused on transnational families reveals the social relationships that develop between caregivers and children and between parents and caregivers because of the necessity for transnational migration and identifies the emotional costs of these arrangements.

International migration constitutes one of the most significant phenomena impacting Guatemala today. About a million and a half Guatemalans live and work in rural and urban cities and towns across the United States and Canada. Like many other migrant groups, most Guatemalans sustain strong transnational linkages between their homeland and el norte (the United States). In the Guatemalan example highlighted in this article, such bonds owe much to the long-standing Guatemalan-U.S. historical connections, to the geographic proximity of the country to the United States. Drawing on ethnographic material, this article examines the divergent kinds of transnational connections that Maya indigenous (K´iche´) migrants craft and keep alive between their home community and their two primary destination localities in the United States—Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California. The article shows the different means of communication and technology, as well as the varying types of transnational organizing —particularly grass-roots efforts— that help shape current linkages between those who go and those who stay. Keyword: Transnational migration, social ties, Guatemalan Maya migration, communications, grass-roots organizing.

This paper addresses the ideology of return among contemporary Guatemalan migrants living and working in the southwestern desert city of Phoenix in Arizona. In Phoenix's metropolitan area, Guatemalans (both Ladino and Maya ethnic groups) add to the city's cultural mosaic, and at the same time, are vital agents for change in Guatemalan society. Little is known about the processes and patterns behind Guatemalan migration despite the fact that over 10 percent of Guatemala's population currently resides in the United States. Most Guatemalans in Phoenix, regardless of their length of residence in the United States, express longings for return to their homeland. In part, this strong notion of return prevails because the Guatemalan community in the Phoenix metropolitan area is not cohesive.