Mexicans in Alaska : an ethnography of mobility, place, and transnational life / Sara V. Komarnisky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Komarnisky, Sara V., author.

Series:

Anthropology of contemporary North America.

Anthropology of contemporary North America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mexicans--Alaska--History.

Mexicans.

Mexican Americans--Alaska--History.

Mexican Americans.

Mexicans--Alaska--Social conditions.

Mexican Americans--Alaska--Social conditions.

Foreign workers, Mexican--Alaska--History.

Foreign workers, Mexican.

Foreign workers, Mexican--Alaska--Social conditions.

Migrant labor--Alaska--History.

Migrant labor.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln ; London : University of Nebraska Press, [2018]

Summary:

Mexicans in Alaska analyzes the mobility and experience of place of three generations of migrants who have been moving between Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacán, Mexico, and Anchorage, Alaska, since the 1950s. Based on Sara V. Komarnisky's twelve months of ethnographic research at both sites and on more than ten years of engagement with the people in these locations, this book reveals that over time, Acuitzences have created a comprehensive sense of orientation within a transnational social field. Both locationsand the common experience of mobility between them are essential for feeling "at home." This migrant way of life requires the development of a transnational habitus as well as the skills, statuses, and knowledge required to live in both places. Komarnisky's work presents a multigenerational and cross-continental understanding of the contemporary transnational experience. Mexicans in Alaska examines how Acuitzences are living, working, and imagining their futures across North America and suggests that anthropologists look across borders to see how broader structural conditions operate both within and across national boundaries. Understanding the experiences of transnational migrants remains a critical goal of contemporary scholarship, and Komarnisky's analysis of the complicated lives of three generations of migrants provides depth to the field.

Contents:

Introduction: yes, there are Mexicans in Alaska

Tracing Mexican Alaska

The annual migration of the traveling swallows: shared experiences of mobility across North America

"My grandfather worked here": three generations of the Bravo family in Alaska and Michoacán

"You have to get used to it": living the North American dream

The stuff of transnational life: suitcases full of mole, t-shirts, roosters, and other things that move

"It freezes the people together": producing a Mexican Alaska

Conclusion: freedom to move.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781496206466

1496206460

9781496206480

1496206487

OCLC:

1035542432