Jalos, USA
Subtitle: transnational community and identity
By: Alfredo Mirandé
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Notre Dame, Indiana
Language: eng
Number of pages: 221
ISBN-13: 9780268035327
Subjects: Relations; Emigration and immigration; Mexicans; Social conditions; Transnationalism; Case studies; Group identity; Community life; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / Hispanic American Studies; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Emigration & Immigration; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations
Other titles: Jalos, U.S.A.
Description: "In Jalos, USA, Alfredo Mirandé explores migration between the Mexican town of Jalostotitlán, Jalisco, and Turlock, California, and shows how migrants retain a primal identity with their community of origin. The study examines how family, gender, courtship, religion, and culture promote a Mexicanized version of the "American Dream" for la gente de Jalos.  After introducing traditional theories of migration and describing a distinctly circular migration pattern between Jalos and Turlock, Mirandé introduces a model of transnationalism. Residents move freely back and forth across the border, often at great risk, adopting a transnational village identity that transcends both the border and conventional national or state identities. Mirandé's findings are based on participant observation, ethnographic field research, and captivating in-depth personal interviews conducted on both sides of the border with a wide range of respondents. To include multiple perspectives, Mirandé conducts focus group interviews with youth in Jalos and Turlock, as well as interviews with priests and social service providers. Together, these data provide both a rich account of experiences as well as assessments of courtship practices and problems faced by contemporary migrants. Jalos, USA is written in an accessible style that will appeal to students and scholars of Latino and migration studies, policy makers, and laypersons interested in immigration, the border, and transnational migration; "Alfredo Mirandé is an established scholar. The strength of this book is in its rich, fascinating interviews of individuals on both sides of the border. The reader comes away with a strong sense that Mirandé really got to know the individuals who were interviewed because he used a respectful approach that was able to cull out incredible detail and honesty from those individuals"--Bill Ong Hing, University of San Francisco School of Law"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Jalostotitlán and Turlock : Introduction; title: Las Fiestas : "Volver, Volver, Volver"; title: Courtship and Marriage : "Dando la Serenata"; title: "El Rey" : Changing Conceptions of Ranchero Masculinity; title: "El Que Quiere Puede!" (He Who Wants to, Can!) : Early Turlock Settlers; title: Jalos, USA; title: Toribio Romo : "El Padre Pollero" (The Holy Coyote); title: A Theory of Transnational Identity.