Imaginaries of Migration Life Stories of Mexican Migrants in Germany Yolanda López García

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

López García, Yolanda <p>Yolanda López García, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Deutschland</p>, Author.

Series:

Kultur und soziale Praxis.

Kultur und soziale Praxis

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social Imaginary.

Mexican Migration.

Germany.

Lifestyle Migration.

Life Stories.

Migration.

Life.

Interculturalism.

Cultural Anthropology.

Latin America.

Sociology.

Local Subjects:

Social Imaginary.

Mexican Migration.

Germany.

Lifestyle Migration.

Life Stories.

Migration.

Life.

Interculturalism.

Cultural Anthropology.

Latin America.

Sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (299 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

López Garcia, Imaginaries of Migration Life Stories of Mexican Migrants in Germany

Place of Publication:

Bielefeld transcript Verlag 2021

Biography/History:

Yolanda López García, born in 1981, is a researcher and lecturer with an interdisciplinary background: Dr. phil from the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena (Germany), MA in International Migration and Intercultural Relations from the University of Osnabrück (Germany) and BA in International Relations from the Jesuit University of Guadalajara (ITESO) (Mexico). Her research focuses on the impact of social imaginaries, migration and intercultural communication in everyday life.

Summary:

How do Mexican migrants in Germany perceive themselves and their lives? Innovatively combining theories of interculturality and social imaginaries, Yolanda López García uses the anthropological method of life stories to investigate the understudied area of Mexican migration to Germany. She discusses areas such as quality of life as a motivation for migration, the role of banal nationalism in imaginaries, the dynamic subjective re-construction of Mexicanness, and the process of (imagined) »Germanisation«. Yolanda López García ultimately argues that individuals, as social agents, engage with and construct new emerging imaginaries, which may be viewed as important engines of social change.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Structural Overview

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Research Objective

Framing Mexican Migration

General Panorama of German-Mexican Studies

Mexican emigration to Germany

Significance of this Research

Monograph Structure

1 Theoretical Lens

1.1 The Imaginary: History of a Concept

1.2 Mapping the Imaginaries in Different Academic Contexts

1.3 Approaching Social Life from the Perspective of the Imaginaries

1.3.1 Foundations for Understanding the Imaginaries: The Social Construction of Reality

1.3.2 Fields of Action of the Imaginaries

1.4 Migrant Imaginaries

1.4.1 The Imaginary Dimension of Life in Migration

1.4.2 The Nation as a Dominant Imaginary and its Effects on Migration

1.5 Summary

2 Methodology

2.1 Research Design

2.1.1 The Life Story Approach

2.2 Procedure for the Collection of Empirical Materials

2.2.1 Selection Criteria for Participants

2.2.2 Finding Participants

2.2.3 Participants' General Information

2.2.4 The Conversations

2.2.5 Methodology and Tools

2.2.6 Transcription &amp

Translation

2.3 Analysis Procedure

2.3.1 Zooming Out - Getting to Know the Stories as Unities

2.3.2 Zooming In - Thematic Analysis

2.4 Critical Reflection on the Research Procedure

2.4.1 Reflection on Challenges and Limitations

2.4.2 Reflection as Researcher and Co‐producer of Stories

2.4.3 Reflection on my Own Story

2.5 Summary

3 Re‐imagining Life through Migration

3.1 Lifestyle in Migration

3.2 Motivations for Mobility

3.2.1 Motivation for Migration Prior to Germany

3.2.2 Motivation for Migrating to Germany

3.3 Re‐imagining Life in Germany

3.3.1 Arrival and First Impressions

3.3.2 Internal Mobility in Germany

3.3.3 Re-Imagining Life Quality, Lifestyle and Security

3.4 Summary

4 Re‐imagining Mexicanness.

4.1 Dialectic between Self-Perception, Perception of Others and Meta-Perception

4.1.1 Being Mexican

4.1.2 Double Role: as Ambassadors and/or Prisoners of Culture

4.2 Re‐configuration of Mexicanness through Practices

4.2.1 Mexican Cuisine

4.2.2 Celebrations, Folkloric Dancing and Traditional and Ethnic Dress

4.2.3 Socio-Political Practices

4.3 Summary

5 Re‐imagining Change and Belonging: Agency between Dominant and Emergent Imaginaries

5.1 Being Germanized

5.2 Fuzziness: "Not Here, Not There" &amp

"Trapped between Two Worlds"

5.3 Practices in the Context of Change

5.4 Summary

Conclusions

References

List of Figures/Tables

List of Abbreviations

Appendices

Appendix A: Conversation Index

Appendix B: Rules for Transcribing

Appendix C: Participant Overview.

Notes:

Doctoral Thesis Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena 2020

ISBN:

9783839458419

3839458412

OCLC:

1272997291

Publisher Number:

9783839458419