Divided by Borders

by Dreby, Joanna

• ISBN13: 9780520260900
• ISBN10: 0520260902
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-17
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Since 2000, approximately 440,000 Mexicans have migrated to the United States every year. Tens of thousands have left children behind in Mexico to do so. For these parents, migration is a sacrifice. What do parents expect to accomplish by dividing their families across borders? How do families manage when they are living apart? More importantly, do parents' relocations yield the intended results? Probing the experiences of migrant parents, children in Mexico, and their caregivers, Joanna Dreby offers an up-close and personal account of the lives of families divided by borders. What she finds is that the difficulties endured by transnational families make it nearly impossible for parents' sacrifices to result in the benefits they expect. Yet, paradoxically, these hardships reinforce family members' commitments to each other. A story both of adversity and the intensity of family ties,Divided by Bordersis an engaging and insightful investigation of the ways Mexican families struggle and ultimately persevere in a global economy.

Table of Contents

Preface: Ordinary Families, Extraordinary Families	p. ix
Acknowledgments/Agradecimientos	p. xix
Sacrifice	p. 1
Ofelia and German Cruz: Migrant Time versus Child Time	p. 35
Gender and Parenting from Afar	p. 57
Armando Lopez on Fatherhood	p. 89
Children and Power during Separation	p. 111
Middlewomen	p. 145
Cindy Rodriguez between Two Worlds	p. 179
Divided by Borders	p. 201
Research Design	p. 231
Family Descriptions	p. 242
Notes	p. 247
References	p. 275
Index	p. 303
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