From Cuenca to Queens : an anthropological story of transnational migration / Ann Miles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miles, Ann (Ann M.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ecuadorian Americans--New York (State)--New York--Social conditions.

Ecuadorian Americans.

Immigrants--New York (State)--New York--Social conditions.

Immigrants.

Emigration and immigration.

Ethnology.

Transnationalism.

Ecuadorians.

Social conditions.

New York (State)--New York.

Ecuadorians--Migrations.

Transnationalism--Case studies.

Ethnology--Case studies.

Ecuador--Emigration and immigration--Case studies.

Ecuador.

United States--Emigration and immigration--Case studies.

United States.

Queens (New York, N.Y.)--Social conditions.

Queens (New York, N.Y.).

Queens (New York, N.Y.)--Biography.

Cuenca (Ecuador)--Biography.

Cuenca (Ecuador).

Genre:

Case studies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 229 pages : illustrations, 1 map ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2004.

Summary:

Transnational migration is a controversial and much-discussed issue in both the popular media and the social sciences, but at its heart migration is about individual people making the difficult choice to leave their families and communities in hopes of achieving greater economic prosperity. Vicente Quitasaca is one of these people. In 1995 he left his home in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca to live and work in New York City. This anthropological story of Vicente's migration and its effects on his life and the lives of his parents and siblings adds a crucial human dimension to statistics about immigration and the macro impact of transnational migration on the global economy.

Anthropologist Ann Miles has known the Quitasacas since 1989. Her long acquaintance with the family allows her to delve deeply into the factors that eventually impelled the oldest son to make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States as an undocumented migrant. Focusing on each family member in turn, Miles explores their varying perceptions of social inequality and racism in Ecuador and their reactions to Vicente's migration. As family members speak about Vicente's new, hard-to-imagine life in America, they reveal how transnational migration becomes a symbol of failure, hope, resignation, and promise for poor people in struggling economies. Miles frames this fascinating family biography with an analysis of the historical and structural conditions that encourage transnational migration, so that the Quitasacas' story becomes a vivid firsthand illustration of this growing global phenomenon.

Contents:

1. From Cuenca to Queens: Transnational Lives 1

2. Transnational Migration: Economies and Identities 11

3. Family Matters 37

4. Rosa 57

5. Lucho 95

6. The Children 117

7. Vicente 149

8. Lives and Stories 181.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [209]-222) and index.

ISBN:

0292702051

0292701713

OCLC:

52108713

Online:

Publisher description