Divided by Borders: Mexican Migrants and Their Children / Edition 1

by Joanna Dreby

Overview

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 Borders is an engaging and insightful investigation of the ways Mexican families struggle and ultimately persevere in a global economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520266605
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	02/17/2010
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Joanna Dreby is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kent State University.

Table of Contents

Preface: Ordinary Families, Extraordinary Families
Acknowledgments/Agradecimientos

1. Sacrifice
2. Ofelia and Germán Cruz: Migrant Time versus Child Time
3. Gender and Parenting from Afar
4. Armando López on Fatherhood
5. Children and Power during Separation
6. Middlewomen
7. Cindy Rodríguez between Two Worlds
8. Divided by Borders

Appendix A: Research Design
Appendix B: Family Descriptions
Notes
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Dreby analyzes these themes through a transnational lens.
In doing so, she offers new and important insights into the lives of immigrant families."—Journal of Sociology

"Offers insightful analysis."—Choice

"An excellent introduction to immigration, globalization, gender, childhood, immigration policy, and transnational family issues."—Journal of Marriage & Family

"An important contribution to immigration scholarship."—Social Forces

"Illuminating. . . . An important addition to both family and migration scholarship."—Du Bois Review & Transition

Editorial Reviews

Offers insightful analysis.

Choice

An excellent introduction to immigration, globalization, gender, childhood, immigration policy, and transnational family issues.

Journal Of Marriage & Family

An important contribution to immigration scholarship.

Social Forces

Provides a compassionate lens for analysing migration, a lens that is frequently missing from conventional discussions of Mexican-American migration.

Journal Of Ethnic & Migration Stds - Alexandra Shaheen

Illuminating. . . . An important addition to both family and migration scholarship.

Du Bois Review & Transition - Jessica M. Vasquez

Dreby analyzes these themes through a transnational lens. In doing so, she offers new and important insights into the lives of immigrant families.

Journal Of Sociology