Acknowledgments
The fruition of this study would not have been possible without the
generosity and openness of the many Yelapans who informed my research
through interviews, conversations, and by sharing their lives with me.
Susanne Jonas aided my field research by kindly sponsoring me through
independent studies, and also provided guidance while synthesizing my
findings. The logistics of my field research were made possible with
a Re-Entry Student Scholarship from the UCSC Womens Club. During the
writing process, Jim Grove provided indispensable technical and conceptual
feedback. My deepest appreciation goes to Patricia Zavella, not only
for reliably reading through drafts, but also for valuing my research
and for always acknowledging me as an important contributor in her classrooms.
Abstract
Centered on ethnographic research within two geographically separate,
yet tightly interconnected localities—Yelapa, Jalisco, and San
Jose, California—this study uses a cultural and interdisciplinary
analysis to examine the formation of this Mexican transnational community.
After providing an overview of communal organizing in Yelapa, I follow
the collective organizing developments of migrants in San Jose, focusing
on transnational achievements. Primary attention is given to the role
of informal collective monetary remittances, with an emphasis on ways
in which migrants in San Jose maintain and recreate their identities
through participation in the organization and implementation of such
remittances. I argue that within the context of Yelapan translocalities,
the use of collective remittances acts as the core mechanism for the
formation of Yelapan migrants’ transnational identity, while simultaneously
ensuring them membership within their sending community.
Introduction
El Velorio (The Wake)
By the time we arrived at the family’s home at ten o’clock
that night, the open front patio of the small house where the young
man’s body lay in his casket was packed with people. Surrounding
the casket were a group of women from the church who kept up a continual
rhythm of prayer and song. The gardens surrounding the house were also
full of villagers, as was the empty land directly across the path leading
from the house to the river. The most impressive sight however, were
the people lining either side of this path stretching from the previous
house and continuing completely around the bend in the path, hugging
the retaining wall that enclosed the family’s garden. These people
were standing or sitting in white plastic chairs. Conversation was low
and tones were reserved. People drank coffee and canela (cinnamon tea)
and munched on cookies, all of which were frequently being passed around
by several young women, who are traditionally family or neighbors of
the deceased. At one point a picture of the young man was also passed
around. Some of the people in attendance would stay all night, while
others would leave after several hours, only to be replaced by other
villagers. By dawn, nearly everyone from town (including babies, children,
youth, and elderly) had made an appearance to pay their respects. To
the outside observer, this velorio, held on a January night in Yelapa,
Mexico, was just like any other held in the village.
What was not apparent in witnessing this velorio was the manner in which
the event linked together various localities within what this study
refers to as the Yelapan transnational community, of which the main
sites are the village of Yelapa and Yelapa’s daughter community
in San Jose, California. Even less apparent was the fact that the dead
young man, a migrant that had lived in North Carolina for several years,
had been shot to death there during a drug-related conflict. It was
also not obvious that it had taken a week for his body to be transported
by plane and boat back to Yelapa, or that the Yelapan migrant community
in San Jose had collectively contributed over one thousand dollars (about
one-fourth of the total costs) towards this transportation.
In some ways it would be easy to confuse the Yelapan village with a
localness defined by its geographical boundaries. However, by looking
at the details of daily life, Yelapa must instead be understood in terms
of transnationality, by which it is forced to deal with issues that
transcend the village and the nation. Most importantly, what becomes
apparent by viewing the village through this lens, is that the identity
of Yelapans can no longer be separated from that of their migrant communities
in the United States, and vice versa. Although the physical event of
the velorio and burial of the young man takes place in Yelapa, so many
other facets of the event involve all Yelapans in the transnational
consequences of migration. Primarily, the nature of his death was particular
to the set of circumstances which his life as a migrant in North Carolina
encompassed. This unfortunate outcome is not overlooked by both migrants
in the United States, as well as prospective migrants in Yelapa, especially
the village’s youth. They pay close attention to migration outcomes,
and this case will inform their ideas and decisions regarding the option.
Additionally, the fact that the sizable Yelapan migrant community in
San Jose was immediately notified of the death occurring across the
nation in North Carolina, and the level of their involvement creates
two main functions. First, their collective monetary remittances significantly
aid the quick and efficient return of the migrant’s body to Yelapa.
Second, and most pertinent to this analysis, the logistics of a migrant
death require actions to be taken (information shared, money collected,
transportation arranged). These set of actions is what creates an opportunity
for migrants to show their loyalty to the village and to support their
family and friends who remain there.
This velorio is only one example of transnational practices that tie
villagers in Yelapa to Yelapan migrants in California and elsewhere
throughout the U.S. Instances of this community transcending borders
and constituting a transnational space include people in both locations
watching the same soap opera and talking about it on the phone, children
left behind to be raised by grandparents while parents migrate, migrants
and Yelapans having business partnerships, and migrants collecting remittances
for Yelapan development projects. On a daily level there is a steady
exchange of phone calls. Also, the consistent flow of travelers between
Yelapa and California provides for the transportation of videos of weddings,
quinceañeras (coming of age celebration for girls turning fifteen),
and new or remodeled homes. Yelapans returning to the village bring
back consumer goods such as appliances and clothing from California,
while travelers going the opposite direction carry remedies for nostalgia
and homesickness such as coolers full of fish and pie, seasonal fruit,
and embroidered servilletas (tortilla cloths).
Defining Transnationalism
Why study transnationalism? In the current era of globalization, many
researchers and theorists within many academic disciplines are analyzing
different representations of transnationalism. Within this literature,
transnationalism is presented by many as a means of understanding “the
penetration of national cultures and political systems by global and
local driving forces” (Guarnizo and Smith 1998: 3). Specific to
this analysis is the literature regarding transnational processes and
transnational spaces that are connected to migration (Espinosa 1998;
Fitzgerald 2000; Fletcher 1999; Goldring 2001, 2002b; Guarnizo and Smith
1998; Levitt 2001; Rouse 1996). More specifically to the structural
relationship between migrants to the United States and transnationalism,
Sassen (1988) argues that those U.S. policies which created the internationalizing
of the country’s economy have resulted in the formation of a transnational
space within which the circulation of workers can be regarded as one
of several other flows, including, for instance, capital, goods, services,
and information. It is within this structural global context of migration
that Mexican migrants such as those from Yelapa find themselves as members
of a community no longer confined to location, but that rather circulates
between and encompasses individuals in multiple physical locales.
To describe transnational processes and communities, theorists work
with an array of terms. Particularly appropriate to conceptualizing
the ways that migration-related transnationalism fits into the larger
field of transnationalist processes is Guarnizo and Smith’s framework
of migration falling into the category of transnationalism “from
below” as opposed to transnationalism “from above”
which they use to refer to transnational capital, global media, and
supra-national political institutions (1998: 3). In terms of identifying
and unifying individuals who occupy the same transnational space and
come from the same place of origin, different researchers have used
the term “community” (Fletcher 1999), and “village”
(Levitt 2001) in their migration studies. Still, others such as Rouse
(1996) choose to use the term “circuit” or “transnational
migrant circuit” instead of community to more adequately describe
the nature of transnational migrants’ membership and mobility
in a newly created social space. Although the term has been criticized
for obscuring possible tensions and conflicts within a transnational
space (Guarnizo and Smith 1998: 75), for purposes of denoting an expansion
of the pre-existing community in the village of Yelapa, I will use “transnational
community” when referring to the social formation to which all
Yelapans belong, regardless of their physical location. I will also
use “transnational locality” or “localities,”
as used by Guarnizo and Smith (1998) and others to emphasize the importance
of place when referring to the physical locations of Yelapa, Mexico;
San Jose, California; or both.
Levitt (2001) defines a transnational village (which she uses as the
term for the type of transnational community she represents in her research)
as having four primary characteristics. Since I believe there exists
an incongruity between her term and Yelapan migrants’ lifestyles
in the city of San Jose, I will not adopt Levitt’s use of the
term “village.” However, I would like to point out how these
characteristics apply to the Yelapan transnational community in order
to establish the level of transnational activity and processes already
in use and those being added continually. First, Levitt states that
actual migration is not required to be a member of such “village.”
This applies to Yelapans, as there are many who stay in the sending
village, but remain quite involved in transnational practices. For example,
specific to collective remittances, there are people that never leave
Yelapa, but who are in charge of receiving and administrating money
collected in San Jose for Yelapa’s development projects. Second,
transnational villages emerge and endure partially because of social
remittances, “the ideas, behaviors, identities, and social capital
that flow from host- to sending-country communities (Levitt 2001: 54).
While social remittances are not the focus of this study, the transfer
of such remittances are strong between the two Yelapan localities and,
as Levitt notices with Mirafloreños, for Yelapans they are also
the “tools with which ordinary individuals create global culture
at the local level” (2001: 11). For example, gender roles are
constantly in the process of change due to the effects of return migrants’
actions or ideas. Third, transnational villages create and are created
by organizations that act across borders. This feature is quite relevant
to this analysis of Yelapan transnationalism, since it attempts to illustrate
the manner in which this characteristic is taking hold, primarily in
the practice of collective remittances. Last, Levitt claims that transnational
villages are studies in contrast, often with contradictions represented
by clashes between rural life and introductions of technology, or between
“traditional” and “modern” gender roles. She
found that material well-being increased at a high social cost. For
Yelapans, this contrast shows itself most in the irony presented when
migrants spend their lives living in crowded conditions in order to
save money for building a home back in Yelapa. When their home is complete,
they cannot afford to live in it due to lack of local employment options.
According to Levitt’s framework, Yelapa has been a transnational
social space in the simplest form since migration began in 1978. Simultaneously,
Yelapans are only now beginning to establish binational organizing at
the level that Levitt describes, and the village of Yelapa is beginning
to exhibit transformations due to social as well as economic remittances.
Goals and Theoretical Questions
Although the growing sociological and anthropological literature on
migrant-led transnationalism is substantial, it often does not address
the uneven levels of organizing that is occurring. As an example illustrating
the important stage of formation, this study primarily describes the
role of collective monetary remittances within the transformational
process of becoming a transnational community. This study also describes
the way that Yelapans within this transnational formation maintain and
recreate identity through participation in activities involved in organizing
collective remittances. The study of this process is done through participating
in the everyday lives and experiences of people who belong to this transnational
community, of both those who migrate from and those who stay in Yelapa.
My research was driven by the following questions: Why have Yelapans
in San Jose not established transnational organizations in the form
of hometown associations? How do linked communities become part of a
transnational community? What conditions are needed for collective organizing
to take place specific to remittances and hometown development? How
do Yelapans maintain and recreate their identity in the midst of migration?
In response to my own questions, I suggest that the subtle level of
organizing occurring within the Yelapan transnational community is worthy
of attention. I argue that within the context of Yelapan translocalities,
the use of collective remittances is the core mechanism for the formation
of the Yelapan migrants’ transnational identity and ensures membership
in the community. These are important factors that support the worthiness
of paying attention to examples such as the Yelapan case, no matter
how underdeveloped and in formation it is. Informal organizing such
as that done by Yelapans can even achieve the same goals as more institutionalized
groups. For example, when comparing the level of Yelapan organizing
to that which takes place within Mexican migrant hometown associations
(HTAs), Yelapan migrants achieve similar outcomes. They maintain involvement
in their home community and reconstruct personal and group identity,
yet without being formalized and state sponsored structures of organization.
I also argue that the Yelapan migrant experience illustrates how transnationalism
changes and negotiates relationships between migrants and Yelapans,
sometimes resulting in conflicts having to do with obligation, expectation,
burden, and responsibility. Aside from the emergence of new identity
markers based on the circumstances of transnationality, migrant identity
is still very much based on characteristics of Yelapan social identity,
such as the emphasis of identity based on membership in an extended
family unit, religiosity, work ethics, and cultural expressions such
as food and celebrations.
Methodology and Subjectivity
In order to address my research questions, this project is based on
a review of academic research within the current transnational literatures
specific to hometown organizing within Mexican migrant communities in
combination with an ethnographic study of the transnational community
of Yelapans living in Yelapa, Jalisco, and the migrant community in
San Jose, California. The most important and informative portion of
this research proved to be the ethnographic study of the Yelapan localities.
This information was gathered during two different periods of field
work, primarily through in-depth interviews focusing on, but not exclusive
to, organizational aspects of the informants’ lives. I conducted
all interviews in Spanish, later transcribing them in the original language.
Most quotes pulled from interviews have been translated into English
so as to offer access to non-Spanish readers. All informants are represented
under pseudonyms. My research was also informed through participant
observation during social and cultural events and through informal socializing
and from conversations.
Beginning in the summer of 2004, I conducted interviews within the Yelapan
migrant community of San Jose, California. Interviews continued at this
locality during February of 2005, for a total of six interviews with
individuals and married couples. A separate phone interview with a migrant
who lives in Stockton was especially informative regarding the establishment
of Yelapan migration. In December and January of 2004-2005, for a period
of six weeks, I carried out fieldwork based on the same methodology
in Yelapa, Mexico. For half of this time I limited my methodology to
participant observation in the community, and then during the second
three weeks I focused specifically on conducting, transcribing, and
analyzing a total of eleven interviews. Similarly, these interviews
varied in the amount of participating individuals, ranging from the
involvement of one person to the involvement of the entire extended
family. During these six weeks I lived with my in-laws (natives of Yelapa),
and, with the rest of our family members, we attended velorios, funerals,
a baptism, quinceañeras, and the annual Día de la Virgen
celebration. In addition to the ethnographic research done in Yelapa,
I studied governmental sociodemographic records at Yelapa’s municipal
seat, El Tuito.
I find it essential to point to my close involvement with the Yelapan
transnational community, without which I would not have reaped such
a nuanced and detailed understanding of my above research. Originally
from San Diego, California, I spent my childhood years in Yelapa and
attended its local elementary school. As the only English speaking student
at Juan de la Barrera elementary, I experienced the benefits and challenges
of language and culture immersion. Due to a lack of further schooling
opportunities, I continued my education in the United States. Despite
my family’s relocation and the severe shift in culture, I was
able to maintain my connection to Yelapa and the relationships I had
built there through visits and subsequent residence.
As well as maintaining this connection with the physical location of
Yelapa, I have become increasingly involved with the local Yelapan migrant
community, and keep an ongoing observation of the informal family and
social organizations that connect Yelapans to their home village. Maintaining
observation has been important for my personal interest in the community’s
evolution, as well as for informing this study. My insider perspective
of Yelapa’s migrant community has been largely facilitated by
my being a member of their sending village, and by the deepening of
family ties through marriage to a Yelapan man and by the birth of our
daughter. My identity as a university student who studies transnationalism
in a formal and theoretical context has also affected how I perceive
activities within the Yelapan transnational community, and how I have
interpreted my observations.
Transnational
Localities and the History of Yelapan Migration
Located in the state of Jalisco on the Pacific coast of Mexico, Yelapa
is a small bay and village belonging to the rural municipio (county)
of Cabo Corrientes. The municipio was formalized in 1825, and Yelapa
was established in 1850. Although there is no recent census data indicating
Yelapa’s population, the number given in the Plan de Desarollo
Municipal for 1995 was 711, and the municipio’s office of the
president estimates the current population at 1,500. Yelapa’s
main economic activities are tourism and fishing. Yelapa is unique from
most small villages in Mexico due largely to its coastal location (which
prevents automobile access) and its tourist economy. The latter facilitates
a good amount of interaction between local Mexicans and gringos, a term
I will use in this study strictly as it is used in Yelapa to describe
any foreigner from outside of Latin America. Several gringos have lived
there permanently since the 1960’s, while most of the roughly
100-person gringo community settle for a seasonal residency that takes
advantage of warmer summer climates in the U.S. and the drier winter
climate in Yelapa. This international characteristic has facilitated
migration from Yelapa to the U.S., but has also has also begun to create
tensions due to the existence of gringo owned businesses in Yelapa.
The fact that Yelapa is located 35 kilometers south of Puerto Vallarta
is also significant in terms of its access to short-term tourism traffic.
Puerto Vallarta is a popular international tourist destination, as well
as Mexico’s second national beach destination. Yelapa’s
proximity to Puerto Vallarta helps to make tourism-related income occupy
first place within the local economy, however, Puerto Vallarta’s
tourist industry tends also to dominate in Yelapa and neighboring coastal
beaches. For example, the tourist industry in Puerto Vallarta sends
boat tours to Yelapa, yet often provides services that include meals
and drinks. Thus, Yelapan locals often find that tourists require few
services during these day trips: “los turistas dejan mas basura
que dinero” (“the tourists leave more trash than money”).
Additionally, the tourist season falls between November and March, with
the peak during Christmas and the New Year, leaving Yelapa without significant
tourist income for half of the year. These inconsistent tourism conditions,
in combination with the decline in the productivity of the fishing economy,
have encouraged Yelapans to migrate to Puerto Vallarta, elsewhere within
Mexico, and to various locations in the United States. San Jose, California,
and its surrounding areas are where the majority of Yelapan migrants
have settled over the past twenty-five years.
The history of Yelapan migration and the way it was initiated has contributed
to San Jose becoming Yelapa’s primary “daughter” community.
In 1978, Mario Reynoso Monteon was the first person from Yelapa to migrate
to San Jose. He did so because he had an American brother-in-law who
invited him to live and work in San Jose. Mario only stayed for about
a year in San Jose, first working in agriculture harvesting grapes,
then in landscaping. Although Mario returned to Yelapa and never migrated
again, this small amount of connection to and establishment in San Jose
was all it took to start Yelapa’s migrant network.
For example, the next group of migrants (a handful of single young men)
included Alonzo Lorenzo Monteon. He migrated to San Jose later in 1978
at the invitation of his cousin Mario and his brother-in-law, and also
worked with them at landscaping. It cost him 3,000 pesos (about 200-250
dollars) for the entire trip from Yelapa to San Jose, including the
coyote, who smuggles undocumented migrants across the border. Since
then, Alonzo has also worked in restaurant, construction, and oil refinery
businesses. He stayed in San Jose until five years ago when he moved
to Stockton where he currently works in construction. Alonzo received
his residency through the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA),
but has chosen not to apply for citizenship. This decision has resulted
in his wife being the only one in the family who remains undocumented,
as their four children were all born in California. Despite his twenty-seven
year migrant history, Alonzo has invested in property and homes in Yelapa
and Puerto Vallarta (mainly through inheritance), and says that his
ideal is to “ir a morir a mi rancho” (“return to die
in my village”). Currently Alonzo does not maintain close contact
with Yelapans in San Jose, but states that when there are collective
remittances organized he is contacted and he participates.
Migrants in San Jose roughly estimate that there must be more than two
hundred people living between San Jose, Gilroy, and Sunnyvale. There
are also a few scattered families in Santa Cruz, Freemont, Oakland,
Stockton, and Santa Rosa. Aside from the main nucleus of migrants in
Northern California, there is a small group of Yelapans in Los Angeles,
as well as other small groups in North Carolina and Canada. San Jose
Yelapans also estimate that about 40-50% of Yelapans currently have
legal documentation status, with most of those being residents, and
only about half of the initial amnesty applicants through IRCA, (perhaps
twenty or thirty individuals) having become US citizens. Although a
few families were also able to obtain documentation through an employer
during the 1980’s, most migrants are obtaining documents by marriage
to a U.S. citizen, which appears to be happening more frequently as
migrants interact and build relationships outside of the Yelapan community.
As has been established by various researchers regarding Mexican migrant
occupations in the Bay Area, and specifically in Silicon Valley (Alarcón
1997; Cornelius 1982; Hossfeld 1988; Saxenian 1981; Wells 2000; Zlolniski
1996) Yelapan migrants in San Jose constitute part of the local wage
labor economy, and work primarily in service sector occupations. According
to Zlolniski (1996), in the context of the economically unequal development
San Jose has experienced due to Silicon Valley’s recent technological
and engineering industry growth, these are the jobs that have experienced
the largest and fastest growth since 1980. Despite the availability
of jobs, Zlolniski found that migrants remain “working but poor,”
due to low wages and San Jose’s high cost of living. In addition,
the replacement of food processing and agricultural occupations in the
Santa Clara Valley with the service sector and construction jobs that
support the framework for Silicon Valley’s high profile jobs also
meant the decline of unionized jobs, such as the ones that Zavella (1987)
found in her study focused on Chicana women workers in the canning industry
in Santa Clara Valley. My informants confirm these findings, as they
identify restaurant, hotel, and construction jobs (all non-unionized)
as the main occupations of Yelapan migrants, generating incomes considerably
lower than San Jose’s cost of living needs. Many migrants state
that they do not see strong gendered occupational patterns, yet it has
been my observation that construction work is an exclusively male occupation,
and men tend to be concentrated more in restaurant jobs, while women
tend to work mostly as hotel housekeepers or janitors.
The Yelapan migrant community in San Jose is relatively new compared
to other more established Mexican migrant communities within the United
States (Massey 1987). Yelapans have been living in San Jose and the
surrounding areas continually since 1978. There appears to have been
a large increase in the migration of family units and young single women
between 1988 and 1993. According to Hondagneu-Sotelo (1997), many other
Mexican migrant communities became more established with the inclusion
of family units and more during the same span of years after the passage
of IRCA. Many who have migrated did so through a connection with a gringo
Yelapan resident or a tourist. A typical pattern for Yelapans coming
to the United States is to first work for a gringo (often in childcare
or manual labor) and then, after a period of months or years, become
independent of this affiliation and find their own employment connections
or to make the connections with the help of other Yelapan community
members in San Jose. Yelapans living in San Jose have not yet permanently
returned to Yelapa to live in high numbers. It is common for younger
migrants without family responsibilities and those families who are
documented to return on a yearly or less frequent basis for visits.
Every individual that I interviewed in Yelapa had at some point during
the past twenty-six years, either lived in the United States for a period
of time themselves, or has close relatives such as children or siblings
living in the United States. All of the individuals interviewed have
lived or have relatives living in San Jose and surrounding areas in
California, with the exception of one woman who had lived with her family
in North Carolina for the past ten years. Migration has resulted in
periods of extended separation between family members, since most Yelapan
migrants are undocumented and rarely return home. Furthermore, it is
increasingly difficult for Yelapans to obtain tourist visas due to the
costly application fees and the corruption within the immigration service
at Guadalajara. Some individuals interviewed stated that they felt lucky
not to have been forced to migrate economically, while other individuals
who had returned to Yelapa did so upon semi-retirement, or because separation
from their families had become unbearably long. For instance, one migrant
family that went ten years without returning is now waiting in Yelapa
to see when they might have an opportunity to cross the border again
in order to spend more years working in North Carolina. All individuals
who had worked in the United States had done so either in construction
or the service industry, such as restaurant or janitorial work. Their
family members living on the other side of the border are employed in
the same occupations.
Most migrants who moved to San Jose up until the early 1990’s
came for reasons other than economic necessity, but have stayed because
incomes are higher and life more materially comfortable. Although I
have yet to formally interview families or individuals who have migrated
to San Jose later than 1993, information gathered from informal conversations
points to a slower rate of migration from Yelapa. This new migration
is still not due to dire economic necessity, yet migrants will undoubtedly
earn more money if they stay in the United States. Instead, the migration
impetus for Yelapans has always been more due to the ease of opportunity
for resettlement in California provided first by gringo contacts, and
later by the established migrant community, and for economic and educational
advantages. For example, if a family chooses to stay in Yelapa, they
can make a living (not without challenges), however, if they migrate
those that work will earn over three times as much in weekly wages.
Once here, migrants stay for the advantageous wage differential, and
increasingly for the educational opportunities provided to their children
and themselves.
Despite the tendency for migration to lead to permanent residence, Yelapans
in San Jose continue to be concerned about the progress of their Mexican
village, and the quality of life for Yelapans there. This is true regardless
of whether migrants in San Jose have concrete intentions to return permanently
to Yelapa, although most families maintain this as an option. Migrants
in San Jose invest in Yelapa in a numerous ways, including remittances
to family members, purchasing land and constructing homes for themselves,
and in the form of collective remittances.
The practice of sending collective remittances for public projects that
will provided basic services to the village (such as for its medical
clinic and for paved pathways) was initiated around 1997 when migrants
in San Jose became interested in partnering with Yelapans in Puerto
Vallarta to build the village’s medical clinic. This project led
the Yelapan community to increase the transnational dialogue regarding
projects, and Yelapans in San Jose have continued to support the development
of basic services back home. In addition to collective remittances for
services, the San Jose community has also established an annual collection
for Yelapa’s religious festival in May, as well as the Mothers
Day Festival in the same month.
Most Yelapans in San Jose are very willing to contribute to collective
remittances for public works projects and for the annual festivals.
Yet the third category of collective remittances - that of contributing
for a medical emergency or sudden funeral - consistently gets the participation
of every single Yelapan in San Jose. There is a shared opinion among
Yelapans that these types of donations are an ethical way of maintaining
connections to Yelapa and are seen as opportunities to display one’s
concern for their fellow Yelapans. When speaking with migrants in San
Jose about the practice of sending remittances for emergencies, there
is a central message of reciprocity, articulated in phrases such as
“uno nunca sabe la mañana,” (“one never knows
what will happen tomorrow”) or “uno nunca sabe cuando te
va tocar a ti” (“one never knows when it will be your turn”).
Within the context of transnationalism, the village of Yelapa deals
with aspects of life that transcend its physical boundaries. Similarly,
migrants in San Jose extend their lives past their physical locality,
and make a big effort to maintain participation within their home community
by the practice of collective remittances. Although this practice is
not as formalized as other examples of transnationalism (HTAs) demonstrates,
this emerging level of organization is precisely what is of interest
within this study. Even more so, it is important to Yelapan migrants,
since the practice offers them an opportunity to make and maintain a
place for themselves within their hometown. Though Yelapan migration
cannot be described strictly in terms of economic need, for the most
part Yelapans choose to stay in the United States. It is within the
context of the increasingly established San Jose community that migrants
are encountering the need to formalize collective remittances. Organization
in San Jose has been a response to, and affected by the history of Yelapa’s
organizing and Yelapa’s underdevelopment. The opportunities for
Yelapan migrants to contribute to development projects also provide
a chance for migrants to remain involved in their mother community,
with the added benefit of keeping social status there. Finally, participation
in collective remittances has two important functions for Yelapan migrants
within San Jose’s daughter community. First, it provides a unifying
medium through which migrants strengthen relationships with each other
and advance organizational strategies as a group. Second, collective
remittances play a role in shaping migrants’ identity formation
by providing for a stratification of social status within the migrant
community, by offering migrants long-distance participation in their
home village, and by allowing for changes and negotiation in their relationships
with their sending community.
Chapter One
Conflicted Organizing and Underdevelopment: Factors Promoting Collective
Remittances
Communal Organizing in Yelapa
In order to appreciate the importance of the emergence and organization
of collective remittances by migrants in San Jose, it helps to understand
Yelapa’s inconsistent history of communal organizing. Unlike the
experience of Mirafloreños from the Dominican Republic who have
strong traditions of collective organizing and sharing labor with one
another, which has provided groundwork for their success in transnational
organizing (Levitt, 2001), Yelapans do not have a consistent historical
pattern when it comes to organizing. The village of Yelapa technically
pertains to a comunidad indigena (indigenous community). I will use
this term because it is the exact wording used by villagers, although
many are vague or uninformed regarding its precise meaning. Although
it is unclear whether the term originated to indicate indigenous ethnicity,
it currently does not denote such, and I do not attempt to associate
it with indigenous or ethnic features of Yelapans. The concept of the
comunidad indigena is relevant since its inherent communal design can
be understood as fostering strong community organization and consensus
among individuals. Yet surprisingly, despite this status, there have
existed political, ideological and land-based divisions among the residents
of this community. Yelapa’s oral historians describe the very
formation of the village as conflicted. At its inception, Yelapa existed
as seven homes at the north end of the beach. When more people came
down from different mountain communities to settle, the original settlers
chased them towards what became the town, supposedly due to political
differences.
When speaking with people in Yelapa today about the unity of the community
in terms of organizing around a development project or an educational
cause, many people cite these same political divisions as interfering
with the goals of unity and progress. Yelapa’s residents have
historically been affiliated with either the Partido Revolucionario
Institucional (PRI) or Partido de Accion Nacional (PAN) political parties,
however within the past few years a small group of Partido Revolucionario
Democratica (PRD) members has been established. Although Yelapans tend
to express political affiliations or activities in vague terms such
as “la política”, “politics” is often
indicated as the reason for Yelapans not organizing and advancing their
community towards development or social goals. Jorge, who runs a restaurant
in town with his wife Sandra, additionally brought up the fact that
even a period of low tourism in the 1990s was complicated by political
affiliations and “the internal political problems that existed
here in the community. There are political groups everywhere, one side
against the other, all of them wanting the power.” It appears
that a sudden increase in theft and drug use among the community’s
youth was creating a bad reputation and scaring tourism away. To make
matters worse, political alliances were such that criminals would either
never be arrested, or would be released the next day by a political
figure in the hopes of maintaining the offender’s family’s
party loyalty or securing their vote.
Beyond citing political divisions, most people include themselves in
citing a generally selfish mentality when it comes to contributing money,
labor or time towards an organized project. Yet simultaneous with its
lack of organizational unity, Yelapa was in dire need of help. Until
the end of the 1990s Yelapa’s infrastructure and basic services
had remained primitive and insufficient: no electricity, no medical
clinic, dirt paths, and no central water system. The same couple who
noticed political battles exacerbating the tourism problem felt that
the hardest thing to organize was a project for public good, also citing
laziness and lack of consensus as reasons: “in a few words, we
don’t like to work.” Many claim that it is this perceived
or real attitude that makes it difficult to produce consistent progress
on the current construction project at a new elementary school in Yelapa.
Monica, a participating parent, illustrates this dynamic: “Here
what we have is for example, if he does not work, neither will I. If
he is not interested, why should I be forcing myself?”
As is represented above, the topic of organizing around school issues
seems to be the most controversial area of community involvement in
Yelapa. As part of a request for various community development projects
that was submitted to the local government in 1998, a new elementary
school was built beginning in the year 2000. However, parents claim
that the government planners made a mistake when creating the blueprints
and built an insufficient number of bathrooms for the number of children
attending the school. As a result, parents are upset that they were
not given the option to review the plans before building took place.
They are currently forced to match the government’s donations
to expand the bathrooms. Parents of elementary school children have
been assigned to work groups, yet many complain that everyone does not
contribute money and labor evenly, thus slowing down the process that
would provide a common good for all of the town’s children. Determining
whether people do not contribute because they do not care, or because
of financial reasons is difficult, since the amount of money needed
for the purchase and transportation of the materials is quite significant.
Although these parents acknowledged their lack of initiative, many other
parents interviewed criticized this prevalent selfish ideology. The
fact that parents did not seem to agree regarding priorities for their
children is what bothers many individuals. There are also signs of resentment
towards parents who have not been contributing their part, as well as
resentment from parents who feel that it is unfair to have to personally
contribute for their children’s education. This point of view
came specifically from one mother who has recently moved back to Yelapa
with her two school age children after experiencing a more government-supported
educational system in North Carolina.
There are other school-related projects planned or under way to which
the parents will have to contribute money, such as a bridge spanning
the river that children cross daily to get to the elementary school.
According to parents, this is another project the government should
have been responsible for, especially if government representatives
had investigated Yelapa’s school related needs thoroughly. In
general, parents stated that those who do participate have created a
strong organizational network for the purpose of raising funds not only
for emergency projects such as the bathrooms, but also for annual events
such as Christmas parties for the children.
Interestingly, parents who had children in elementary school during
previous generations recall there being a strong sense of unity among
parents when work or donations for a building project were needed, or
when a school festival was planned. Ilena and Angelino, who have grown
children living in California, compare the unity they experienced as
parents of school children with the unity they currently encounter within
religious organizing: In those times when we had our children in the
school, everyone evenly, we would contribute. One would put on events
to raise funds, and we all worked the same. Now it is the same for the
May festivals, here our whole neighborhood [contributes] to raise funds
for the church.
In contrast with the community’s split in regards to the elementary
school, the Yelapan community appears to have a tight organization supporting
religious events and church-related projects. For example, there are
several core families which have taken on responsibilities within the
Catholic Church when the priest is absent. On the first day of every
month church members collect and disperse food to needy families within
the community. Similarly, many of the most religiously involved women
spontaneously initiate a collection when they notice that a community
member needs help with medical or other expenses. This group also leads
weekly “oracion,” an event where church members gather to
pray and sing without the formality of mass. Women are also particularly
active in organizing outings to major religious celebrations and events
held in other communities within the diocese.
This type of religious community consciousness is something new in Yelapa
during the past five to ten years, and people have stated that such
a consciousness was created several years ago when the priest arranged
for religious “teachers” to come from Guadalajara and hold
biblically based workshops and classes regarding the importance of social
acts. Jorge and Sandra, who have maintained strong involvement in the
church over the years, claim that this consciousness helped erase the
community’s political and familial divisions represented within
the church. Despite the level of religious involvement from community
members, Sandra stated that at times it was still hard to organize as
not everyone shared the same level of spiritual enlightenment or understanding.
Community improvement projects were virtually non-existent until the
end of the 1990s. Finally in 1998, Paulo, the secundaria’s (7-9th
grades) teacher and director, spearheaded a movement to request basic
services from the government. After holding public meetings and voting
on the specific projects, the school director helped the community submit
a request for the following public works: electricity, paved pathways,
water, new elementary, preparatoria (high school), library, park, sports
center, dock, and the completion of the clinic. It is Paulo’s
opinion that a 1990 INEGI census mistake favored the quick motivation
for these public works projects, which the government began supporting
in 2000. So far the electricity, paved pathways, new elementary, preparatoria,
dock, and clinic have been completed, with the water piping in progress.
Yelapa’s community members contributed one third of the expenses
for these projects.
As with its educational projects, reaching consensus regarding these
requests for services was fraught. The majority of community members
voted in favor of installing electricity, but there were a number of
people against this either because of the amount of money they would
have to contribute or because of the changes it represented to existing
lifestyles. A mother and school employee who lives up-river in a rather
tranquil setting stated that she was opposed to electricity because
it would change Yelapa forever. Another set of parents who own a restaurant
in town and have four children state that although they are grateful
for the convenience factor of electricity, they are disappointed and
concerned with the way that electricity has changed the lifestyles of
the community’s children. For example, they notice Yelapa’s
children spending more time watching television and playing video games.
The result is less time spent on outdoor activities, the lack of which
is a factor contributing towards an increase in overweight children.
Probably the most formalized voluntary organization in Yelapa is the
fishing cooperative, which under its current structure has been in operation
since 1991. Having been a fisherman and diver all his life, Julian chose
to volunteer as president when recognizing that the Yelapan fishing
community needed help to get fishing licenses. He is in charge of making
sure that all of the cooperative’s members have proper licensing
and paperwork for their pangas (boats). The cooperative was also established
as a way to generate funds through the collection of member dues that
would, in turn, act as an account from which loans to fishermen for
boats, motors, or fishing and diving equipment could be made. Through
her research in the fishing and shrimp farming villages of El Cerro
and Celaya in Sinaloa, Cruz-Torres (2004:233) similarly found that fishing
cooperatives offer their members an advantage over non-organized fishermen
in the form of loans for pangas and equipment.
There are only nine fishermen involved in this cooperative, with the
majority of Yelapa’s fishermen not participating. During the 1980s
there was a cooperative with larger membership, but Julian claims it
was too hard to organize everyone. The cooperative has a collection
room at the town’s small beach, where people can go to purchase
fish, and they also fulfill orders from local food stores and restaurants.
The primary types of fish caught are huachinango (red snapper), dorado
(mahi mahi), and tuna. Several of Yelapa’s fishermen are also
professional divers, and the bay also offers lobster, octopus, clams
and a variety of other shellfish.
The cooperative is also a locus for a growing consciousness regarding
the environmental risks presented by certain types of fishing. For example,
Julian is discouraged by the fact that the government prohibits the
use of spear fishing, but allows the use of net fishing. In his experience
spear fishing is more environmentally friendly, since a diver can avoid
spearing immature fish, whereas net fishing catches many fish that have
not yet reproduced, therefore diminishing future supplies. In addition,
nets often get stuck between rocks and stay there for years, continuing
to arbitrarily catch and kill fish. Julian is critical of government
officials who prioritize unnecessary laws such as the prohibition of
spear fishing while letting other hazards slip by. He would like to
make net fishing illegal in the bay, but is skeptical that this will
happen. He also notes that the government prohibits diving for lobster
in the summer, but that they should really prohibit it in the winter
when the lobsters have eggs. It appears that with the growth of the
fishing cooperative and some political leadership this group will have
a growing influence in local fishing industry, and might be able to
make positive changes.
The Influence of Uneven Organizing on Collective Remittances
Yelapa’s organizational patterns in relation to education, religion,
development, and fishing represent a range of involvement, commitment,
and success levels. Yet although this history has been contradictory
at times, there is a slow general trend towards working together. This
emerging cohesion has been most evident within the mobilization around
development projects. There is also evidence of preserving some traditional
communal activities. One such example which still takes place, and is
representative of the unity which Angelino and Ilena so fondly remember
from their children’s school days, is the construction of colados
(roofs). This is the only form of labor-sharing in which Yelapans regularly
participate. Fletcher (1999) also found that raising the roof during
the final stage of house building was the qualified exception to the
lack of widespread labor-sharing and communal organizing in Napízaro,
Michoacán. Yet both Yelapan and Napizareño migrants participate
in the collective organization and funding of development projects through
remittances. Because of this, it does not appear that strong communal
organization in a sending village is a necessary precursor for the formation
of collective remittances.
In fact, it is probable that the undefined nature of Yelapa’s
communal organizing actually aided the emergence of collective remittances.
This is such due to the position that Yelapans find themselves in upon
migration: they have more opportunity to contribute financially towards
the development of their sending community, and at the same time their
sending community looks increasingly towards migrants to fill an organizational
and leadership role since there are few people in Yelapa assuming this
position.
Yelapa’s Underdevelopment and Lack of Government Assistance
Over the past four decades, Yelapa’s economic and development
struggles have existed in stark contrast to the prosperous tourist town
of Puerto Vallarta only fifteen miles away. While Puerto Vallarta features
sterile resorts and a significant representation of American businesses
(such as McDonalds and Wal-Mart), Yelapa did not receive even basic
services until the end of the 1990s. In 1999, the medical clinic was
the first project to be completed. Electricity arrived in 2000, along
with other requests included in the 1998 proposal. Development projects
may have arrived all at once beginning in 2000 partially due to a study
done by the municipal government, and published as “Plan de Desarrollo
Municipal 2001-2020, Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco.” The title’s
subheading reads like a slogan: “Cabo Corrientes, Con Opciones
Para Todos” (“Cabo Corrientes, With Options For Everyone).
Yet one of the study’s findings—and that most obvious to
Yelapans for some time—was that the communities within the municipality
of Cabo Corrientes still represent very low levels of development and
socio-economic status, while the municipality of Puerto Vallarta far
exceeded them in terms of social welfare (Plan de Desarrollo Municipal,
87). The claim that the Yelapan community has “options for everyone”
is especially ironic, given that so many members migrate. Based on informants’
estimations of the migrant population in San Jose, and by calculating
the percentage of Yelapans living in San Jose relative to Yelapa’s
population, I estimate that 13% (200-250 individuals) of Yelapa’s
total population are migrants.
Since Yelapan residents contributed fully a third of the funding for
development projects, and as much of the development burden still rests
squarely on the community of Yelapa, many residents complain of a lack
of government support. For example, costs for small projects, like the
elementary school bathrooms, are assumed largely by parent groups. Organized
funding for school related projects exists only at the secundaria level.
Because of Yelapa’s development needs, Paulo would like to encourage
migrants in San Jose to organize: “Again, it is important for
them to organize, because they see things different than how we see
them.” Here he is referring to the fact that many people in Yelapa
do not have an awareness of the benefits of investing time and money
into development projects. Points of tension definitely exist within
the planning processes for the bulk of projects, such as the request
for electricity. Paulo entered the process assuming that all Yelapans
would want “progress,” when in reality there was a significant
portion that had reservations and doubts regarding voting for implementation
of many projects. When voting on the request for electricity, for example,
300 out of 400 households voted in favor. Due to this lack of cohesion,
Paulo feels that migrants might be able to influence villagers’
priorities regarding development and organization, while simultaneously
making projects more financially accessible.
What is interesting regarding the late development of Yelapa’s
community is that when development projects began at the end of the
1990s, migrants and their networks were actually better equipped to
participate in funding projects. Since all of the development projects
were only partially funded by the local government, the need for migrants’
contributions quickly became apparent. This is especially true when
considering that a twenty dollar donation goes a lot farther when converted
to pesos than what someone in Yelapa would earn for the same amount
of work. Migrants in San Jose earn twenty dollars in 2-4 hours of wage
labor, while it would take at least one entire day’s work to earn
the same amount in Yelapa. Just as the gap in Yelapa’s organizational
leadership has encouraged migrants in San Jose to take a role in Yelapa’
welfare by promoting collective remittances, Yelapa’s extreme
lack of infrastructure and basic services have heightened the attention
paid by all Yelapans to developmental needs, which have been prioritized
within collective remittances.
Chapter Two
Collective Remittances: Emerging Organization and Emerging Identities
Migration Networks in San Jose
As defined by Massey et al., in the broadest sense migration networks
consist of “social ties that link sending communities to specific
points of destination in receiving societies” (1987, 139). Specifically,
these authors cite kinship, friendship, and paisanaje (common origin)
as providing the most important elements of network relationships through
which “people, goods, and information circulate to create a social
continuum” (1987, 148) between the hometown and its “daughter
communities.” In the case of Yelapa, I would add the importance
of compadrazgo in establishing networks between Yelapa and San Jose.
Voluntary organizations are also extremely important for maintaining
and strengthening migrant networks (Massey et. al. 1987), and Yelapans
have utilized this practice by forming a basketball team and soccer
club in San Jose.
The first migrants who moved to California, and many after, did so because
of a connection with an American. Soon after, their dependence upon
these connections shifted towards a mutual dependence with other migrants
from Yelapa, coinciding with the beginning of a network. For example,
in 1978 Alfredo came to Santa Cruz on an invitation from an American
acquaintance, but also visited, and later that month moved up to live
with, the handful of Yelapans who already lived in San Jose. There,
he started building up the San Jose community by hosting Christmas,
New Years, and Mother’s Day parties at his house. Similarly, Elena
was offered a live-in nanny job near Santa Rosa by an American family
who lived seasonally in Yelapa. She took them up on their offer and,
in 1989, worked with the family for three months. She then moved to
San Jose with her boyfriend, Gerardo. One year later, through a connection
with the same American family, her cousin Leandra moved up to replace
her as the family’s nanny. After working with them for ten months
and later returning to Santa Rosa in 1993 to work with the family for
two years, Leandra was able to move to San Jose with her new husband,
where they successfully established housing and employment with the
help of her family members and their networks. Hence, what started out
as a dependence on Americans slowly shifted to an interdependence and
reliance on fellow migrants for support.
As was the case for many Mexican migration networks, the 1986 Immigration
Reform and Control Act (IRCA) helped San Jose’s migrant networks
to stabilize and expand. According to Hondagneu-Sotelo (1997), such
developments typically occurred when undocumented migrants were granted
legal status, as their new legality provided the encouragement and financial
stability needed to further integrate family and community members who
had not previously migrated. Juan received his residency through IRCA,
and later become a citizen, in this way arranging documentation for
his wife Arcelia and their oldest daughter. According to this couple,
practically everyone from Yelapa who currently has legal documentation
received it through IRCA either directly or through a family member.
Most of the forty Yelapans living in San Jose when Arcelia joined them
in 1988 had taken advantage of the 1986 amnesty. At this point Yelapans
expanded their networks due to the migration of family members, especially
women, and migrants were afforded a wider access to society through
legal documentation. Migrant networks were also responsible for grouping
people in the same apartment complexes, such as the apartment complex
on East Gish Road which was home to a majority of Yelapan migrants throughout
the 1980s and 1990s.
The established migrant networks proved to be very important for Salvia
and Jose when they moved up to San Jose rather unexpectedly in 1990,
needing help in re-establishing their lives. Jose is particularly grateful
for daily rides he received to and from his first job.
I worked washing dishes, all the way in Los Gatos, and I did not have
a car…well the people from Yelapa, the friends, but you have to
bother people by asking for rides. Juan was someone, and Arcelia, they
went all the way there all the time, and well, helped.
The main function of migration networks in San Jose was originally,
and still continues to be, for providing the down payment to pay a family
member’s coyote, and hosting an individual or family while they
got established. Just as Leandra got support from her family members
when she moved to San Jose, she now gives support to family members
when they arrive from Yelapa. “This time when my nephew Toni came,
it took him seven months to get established, but he was not charged
those months. Yes, in this way we also help [new migrants who are arriving].”
Similar to Leandra’s move from Santa Rosa, Manuel was encouraged
to move to San Jose from Petaluma in 1993, since he knew the existing
networks would offer more employment connections.
In a restaurant near Santa Cruz, the daughter of Yelapan migrants celebrates
her first communion But migration networks in San Jose do much more
than merely soften the financial landing for new arrivals. They constitute
a community of mutual support and collaboration, within which it is
common for migrants to swap childcare, share transportation, and organize
cundinas. They also play a key role in the formation of the Yelapan
community as a transnational space. The connections that people maintain
on a daily basis through working together, phone conversations, and
social events keep news and gossip from Yelapa updated by the hour.
It is common for members in San Jose to be informed about an event which
took place in Yelapa even before it has had time to spread through the
village. This is likely a result of the entire San Jose community receiving
information through co-workers and cell phone calls faster than it spreads
by foot, horse, and now even telephone communication through Yelapa.
By existing as such efficient information relay systems, San Jose’s
networks facilitate an exchange of information regarding employment
and housing opportunities, social services, transportation tips, childcare
availabilities, school system navigation, legal residency opportunities,
and border-crossing strategies.
Information about migrant life in San Jose is condensed through networks
and spreads back to Yelapa, aiding in the decision making process for
people planning to migrate north. Most importantly, Yelapans in San
Jose are quick to mobilize networks when there is an emergency either
in San Jose or in Yelapa. As it happens, it is usually the case that
Yelapans contact their family in San Jose for financial or other assistance
before they call on fellow villagers. As Yelapa’s population has
grown, the need for development and public services has become more
pressing, and as a response to the low level of government support for
such development, migrants in San Jose have incorporated the communal
needs of the village into the information typically circling through
migrant networks.
History and Scope of Yelapan Collective Transnational Projects
Within the literature on Mexican migration, several researchers have
documented collective transnational remittances most often being used
for public infrastructure and development projects in the home town
(Alarcón 2002; Bada 2003; Fitzgerald 2000; Fletcher 1999; Goldring
2002a; Levitt 2001). Specifically, in order to do this an increasing
number of migrant communities are forming hometown associations (HTAs),
which are formal clubs that are sponsored at the state level of the
Mexican government through matching funds programs (Alarcón 2002;
Bada 2003; Goldring 2001, 2002a, 2002b; Zabin and Escala-Rabadan 1997).
Although the collective remittance process which Yelapans are currently
involved in is not as formalized as are many examples of HTAs from these
scholars, the nature of Yelapa’s most needed and tangible projects
falls into this category. According to Alfredo, the self-described primary
organizer in San Jose, the first collective remittances for a development
project began in 1997 when his nephews in Puerto Vallarta contacted
him regarding their idea to mobilize Yelapans towards beginning construction
of a medical clinic. Alfredo got the idea to collect donations for the
clinic from migrants in San Jose just as he had collected donations
for a sickness or death in the past.
The connection was made with my nephews, Lalo and Hector. They were
the ones in charge down there. The money would get sent to them, and
they gave the money that was necessary for building the clinic…I
think that has been the biggest project so far. Every fifteen days or
every month when we would get together we donated money, and would send
it to my nephew Lalo, who had all of the records of expenses. Because
if we sent it directly to the people in town, well you know…
Since Alfredo emphasizes that it was important to give the money to
someone trustworthy and committed to the project, it gives the impression
that integrity is hard to come by within the Yelapan community. This
theme continues throughout Alfredo's interview. He stresses that he
has become the main organizer not only due to the amount of seniority
he has living in San Jose, but also because he is very honest: “If
someone gives me five dollars for me to send, I send those five dollars.
I record on paper everything that people give me.” It also appears
that he feels hesitant to propose involvement in new projects because
he does not have one trusted contact person who will be directly involved
in project implementation. Interestingly, by all accounts from Yelapans
(including his own), the secundaria director Paulo is trustworthy, motivated,
and highly interested in development projects. He is the individual
who spearheaded the 1998 application for services, and currently takes
responsibility for administrating electrical services. Yet while Alfredo
cannot name someone he trusts, and Paulo wishes San Jose migrants would
become more involved, the two have not communicated with each other
regarding promoting and coordinating development plans.
After the medical clinic was completed in 1999, migrants continued to
contribute to development projects. For example, aside from contributing
towards the construction of the clinic, migrants in San Jose also paid
for the clinic’s generator, since it opened before electricity
arrived in Yelapa. When the project of paving the paths was underway,
migrants collectively sent money for Yelapans who could not contribute
their part of the pathway, and this money was used for the stone, while
the government paid for the labor. Unlike with formal HTAs, government
assistance was not provided through a matching funds program, but instead
was sent directly to Yelapa from the municipio. Two previously mentioned
factors may have been responsible for the fact that the local government
supplied any support at all: the census mistake, and findings regarding
the unequal development within Cabo Corrientes from the Plan de Desarollo
Municipal. Although it is unclear how much total money in remittances
was sent to Yelapa for the above projects, according to Alfredo the
clinic remittances entailed the most amount of time and money.
A second type of collective remittance emerged with the organizational
efforts of Arcelia, who has been living in San Jose since 1988. For
the past five years she has taken the initiative to send collective
remittances as contributions toward Yelapa’s annual church festival
and Mother’s Day festival, both in the month of May. Arcelia started
this when she and her family returned to San Jose after living in Yelapa
for a period of two years, when she noticed the community’s need
for more help from migrants. Her husband Juan hopes that these particular
collective remittances will help ensure that traditional celebrations
will be revived in Yelapa, such as Mother’s Day, Easter, and Dia
de la Marina celebrations. Migrants in San Jose tend to contribute readily
to the annual church festival, and collectively send an average of 400
dollars a year. During Yelapa’s May church festival, a one-day
pilgrimage throughout the village is dedicated to absent migrants, or
those who are “ausentes.”
By far the most common type of collective remittances, and that which
established the practice, go towards life and death situations. Examples
include sending a deceased migrant home, paying for medical expenses
for a community member in Yelapa, or sending a migrant back to Yelapa
to attend a family member’s funeral. While doing my fieldwork
in Yelapa in January of 2005, two such cases transpired. One week, migrants
in San Jose contributed approximately 1,000 dollars towards the expenses
for sending back the young man who died in North Carolina. Assisted
by a cousin, Alfredo drove around San Jose collecting these donations.
The next week, migrants collectively contributed 1,300 dollars for a
young woman who lives in San Jose to travel home for her father’s
funeral. In this case, the help was critical for her, since her father
had been missing with another family from a neighboring village for
over a month, and she had just traveled back to be with her mother and
siblings the previous week with her own savings. Since her father’s
body was found only a few days after she returned to San Jose, Arcelia
quickly started a collection by driving from house to house, obtaining
the above amount within two or three hours. Although the details of
the second death are unnecessary here, it has became apparent that both
of the above cases involved individuals with questionable moral character.
Yet consistent with the support given to morally respectable individuals,
Yelapans have shown solidarity for these family emergencies.
There are many ideas and plans for projects germinating in the minds
of Yelapan migrants and village residents. Some have been initiated,
while some have yet to be proposed to the community. Among the projects
that people in Yelapa would like to see materialize are the library,
park, sports unit, and the completion of the water piping. However,
Yelapans in both localities recognize the need for very much more. Already
in progress is a collection among community members in Yelapa for renovations
to the church, including expanded pews and towers. It does not appear
that migrants have yet collectively donated to this project. Other needs
include an expansion of the graveyard and an extension of the paved
pathways through areas of town that have not been incorporated. Migrants
also have visions for the future, such as Alfonso, whose dream is to
make a gymnasium/health center in Yelapa, where people of all ages can
have access to exercise equipment and fitness and nutrition education.
This idea stems from the fact that there is an increase in obesity and
health problems in Yelapa. Migrants are also concerned for Yelapa’s
youth, and see a great need for services and activities offered to this
sector of the community as an attempt to prevent drug abuse and delinquency.
Benefits and Challenges of Informal Collective Remittances
For Alfredo and Arcelia, taking part in the organization of collective
remittances often means jumping up at a moment’s notice to drive
around San Jose in order to gather donations for an emergency. When
gathering remittances for a long term development project, individuals
in charge of collections invest a significant portion of their time
in physically gathering donations at work and at social events. After
remittances have been gathered, the most common and preferred method
of transfer for Yelapans is by sending the cash with a Yelapan who is
returning to the village. Alarcon (2002) similarly points to the practice
of sending cash remittances though family and friends as the preferred
and most widely used method by HTA members from Los Angeles who send
remittances back to Zacatecas and Jalisco. Yelapans find benefits in
this method such as trustworthiness, but acknowledge that the difficulties
lie in infrequent opportunities to send money, and the risk involved
for migrants carrying large amounts of cash. Both Alfredo and Arcelia
feel that they are ready to formalize their organizational methods into
a club, with appointed officials such as president, secretary, and treasurer.
They propose a scenario where members could contribute twenty dollars
a month, and thus establish a fund from which to plan allotments for
development projects and emergency aid. However, there has yet to be
a meeting held in San Jose to discuss the formation of such a club,
and Arcelia has expressed doubt that people would be responsive to becoming
formally involved.
What Alfredo and Arcelia are envisioning is characteristic of a structured
type of organization that many Mexican transnational communities have
achieved in the form of HTAs. According to Bada (2003), although Zacatecas
has the oldest matching funds program, Jalisco is among several states
that have recently signed similar agreements with HTAs. Although collective
organizing among Yelapan migrants is far from achieving this level of
institutionalization, this development offers an opportunity for such
organizing. In combination with state sponsorship, the fact that Yelapans
in San Jose are becoming more physically and economically settled will
likely increase the chances for such sophisticated organizing to occur
in the future. For instance, Fitzgerald (2000) found evidence that the
most transnationally active Sahuayans from Michoacán are those
who appear to be most settled in the United States, based on such markers
as home and business ownership, permanent legal status, or U.S. naturalization.
The fact that the amount of Yelapan migrants who currently hold any
combination of these markers is about half or less supports the underside
of Fitzgerald’s correlation between high transnational activity
and settlement markers. However, there concurrently exists evidence
that challenges Fitzgerald’s argument and points to a potential
level of informal organization that Yelapans have not achieved. For
example, the “Grupo Union” as featured in the film documentary
Sexta Sección (2003) is composed of about fifteen Mexican migrants
who live in Newburgh, New York, and send collective remittances to their
hometown of Boqueron, Puebla for development projects. Although they
do hold formal meetings with appointed administrative roles, all but
one of the group’s members have undocumented status, and none
of them own a home or a business. Much like Yelapan migrants, migrants
from Boqueron work as wage laborers with occupations such as taxi drivers,
bakers, and snow scrapers. Yet they have completed fourteen major projects,
with a recent collective remittance of 12,000 dollars for the completion
of a water well.
Migrants like Manuel, who has lived in San Jose for thirteen years and
contributes to collective remittances without participating more profoundly
in their organization, think that more transnational organizing will
take place in the future. Currently, he perceives challenges such as
lack of initiative or stinginess. This prevalent ideology shows that
possibly too few Yelapans agree regarding the importance of organizing,
or too few are able to do so. Also, the informal nature of collective
remittances has inhibited primary actors in San Jose and Yelapa from
communicating about each other’s activities and entering into
collaboration.
The benefits of keeping the organization of collective remittances at
an informal level have much to do with the ability to strengthen San
Jose’s migration networks through the physical act of traveling
from home to home to collect donations. This gives the person who is
collecting remittances and the family whom they are visiting an opportunity
to connect and commiserate regarding the project or emergency. In a
way, this also provides a quick (and sometimes unexpected) break from
the grueling routine of wage labor which often isolates Yelapans from
fellow migrants. In addition, keeping donations at this informal level
allows migrants to participate when they choose to, while allowing them
to vary the amount of their contributions depending on their life circumstances.
Identity Construction through Collective Remittances
Several researchers investigating transnationalism have highlighted
diverse issues of identity formation and construction within this context
(Fitzgerald 2000; Fletcher 1999; Goldring 2001; Grimes 1998; Guarnizo
and Smith 1998; Levitt 2001; Rouse 1996). For example, Fitzgerald (2000)
claims that political identity and membership need not be tied to state
territory, and proposes a model of “extra-territorial” citizenship,
wherein migrants claim legal and moral citizenship in their sending
communities while being absent; while Goldring (2001) found that the
participation of women within the Zacatecas Federation of Hometown Associations
in Los Angeles excluded them from positions of power, and re-enforced
and institutionalized traditional feminine roles and identity construction.
While identity tends to play itself out differently depending on the
context, one broad recurrent thread running through most studies of
transnational social formations is the acknowledgment that identity
can no longer be fixed or solely constructed in relation to one locality,
yet at the same time cannot exist by entirely negating such influences.
Exemplifying this, and using the framework of Michael Shapiro, Guarnizo
and Smith (1998:21) represent transnational identity politics as a way
to characterize personal identity as neither static nor free-floating:
In this way various “social spaces” like trans-local migrant
networks, transnational working arrangements, and globalized neo-liberal
ideology, can be viewed as affecting the formation of character, identity,
and acting subjects at the same time that identity can be seen as fluctuating
and contingent, as the contexts through which people move in time-space
change and are appropriated and/or resisted by acting subjects.
This representation of identity construction applies to the malleability,
yet collective solidity of migrants’ identities within the Yelapan
transnational community. The emergence of collective remittances has
affected the Yelapan community in more ways than just through development
projects, traditional religious and social events, and emergency aid.
While Fletcher found that “the building of houses [in Napízaro,
Michoacán] is an important part of the construction of both identity
and locality for Napizareño migrants” (1999, 21), Yelapan
migrants are similarly redefining their identity through participating
in the practice of collective remittances. Part of a migrant’s
identity which is constructed as part of donating remittances is the
ability to secure and maintain a social place for themselves within
the Yelapan community while they reside in San Jose. Although Alfredo
does not plan to return to Yelapa to live until he is able to retire,
he does know that he will always be invested in Yelapa’s future
whether he ever lives there or not. Promoting collective remittances
is a practical way for him to show that he is “someone,”
who has an important role in the development and well being of the Yelapan
community, while displaying his loyalty to his hometown. Levitt (2001:11)
notes that many migrants continue to use their sending community as
the reference group against which they measure their status: One of
the reasons so many Mexicans, Dominicans, and Central Americans contribute
to development projects or help organize and participate in beauty pageants
and patron-saint celebrations in their communities of origin is to affirm
their continued membership in these transnational groups and to demonstrate
their enhanced position within them.
This demonstration of status is important for many migrants, who like
Alfredo, do not have access to many positions of status within their
lives in San Jose. Their lack of access to status often has to do with
language barriers, undocumented status, and racism. As Levitt (2001:19)
also found, Yelapans remain active within their community of origin
because they are prevented from achieving full social membership in
the United States.
The process of collecting remittances also highlights conflicts in identity
or perceived identity among migrants. For example, a Yelapan migrant
who lives in Santa Cruz but is clearly an active member within San Jose’s
community through kinship and compadrazgo, has felt offended and ignored
various times when a remittance collector from San Jose has failed to
contact him for a donation: “They don’t even pay attention
to me anymore.” Not only does this indicate that part of this
migrant’s identity involves the desire and ability to contribute,
as a way of maintaining connection to his community of origin, but also
that remittance organizers belong to an emerging upper social strata
which has some control over who participates in this identity-making
process.
There are some migrants, such as Leandra, who although they do not identify
with having a strong social or organizational nature, still consistently
contribute money for projects, and especially for emergencies, because
“one never knows what tomorrow may bring.” This refrain
was echoed time and time again through various phrases such as “one
never knows when it will be your turn,” and “some day one
might be in that situation” by migrants in San Jose who described
their commitment towards collective remittances as a way to develop
their home town, and most importantly as a way to help fellow Yelapans
in crisis. This commitment and loyalty is part of what characterizes
the strong emergence of collective remittances, and what provides the
basis for migrants to organize with one another through this practice,
creating also a collective identity.
Migration networks, informal collective remittances, and identity negotiations
are all inextricably linked together within the Yelapan transnational
community. Strong migration networks were an important precursor to
the organization of collective remittances, and they remain the medium
through which migrant donations are collected. In turn, collective remittances
provide an opportunity for migrants to maintain a level of social status
with their sending village. In addition, migrant identity is challenged
and negotiated in several ways. Through this practice Yelapan migrants
fulfill expectations other Yelapans put upon them to improve the village,
although this burden of responsibility is sometimes hard to negotiate
with the economically demanding nature of migrants’ lives in San
Jose. Finally, by organizing and participating in collective remittances,
migrants create a structure of social stratification among them, and
expand their identity past the limits of wage-laborer to include markers
influenced by transnational organizing.
Conclusion
Many of my observations regarding the Yelapan community prior to conducting
the research for this study have held true, although at times they have
required adaptations. For instance, it has been evident for more than
two decades that the village of Yelapa deals with aspects of life that
transcend its physical boundaries. This was the case even before migration
became a pattern in the late seventies, since the gringo population
had already been established and has been a source of Americanization
and influence ever since. Yet today, gringos are not the primary source
of transnational influence in Yelapa. Instead, it is the migrant family
members of those who have stayed behind who bring home the latest trends
in U.S. culture. As other studies of transnational communities have
shown (Fletcher 1999; Grimes 1998, Levitt 2001), consumerism plays a
large role in transmitting this culture. Yelapan migrants bring home
tastes of their California lives through brand name clothes purchased
from outlet stores at the Great Mall in Milpitas; through highlighted
hairstyles and closed-toe footwear; and through the provision of a slew
of appliances ranging from toasters to washing machines.
Other observations have been thoroughly challenged. It appeared that
Yelapans in the village were a close, mutually supportive community,
yet challenged when it came to organizing on behalf of public projects.
While a strong unifying element does exist in the village (as demonstrated
by the example of the velorio), numerous divisions underlie and confound
the collective intentions within this communal culture. Examples of
divisions are the governmental contradictions seen in corruption and
incompetence, the unequal desire among villagers for implementation
of development projects, and conflicting attitudes regarding financial
contributions towards the village’s improvements. Some go so far
as to claim that this divisiveness inhibits consistently productive
organizing. Nevertheless, people in Yelapa have been more successful
than I originally imagined at securing development projects and basic
services. The truth remains that their success in requesting services
from the government and their implementation at the end of the 1990’s
was dependent on several factors, including the existence of a highly
motivated individual who spearheaded projects in Yelapa, the fact that
Yelapa was long overdue for developmental assistance and this was known
to the local government, and the fact that migrants in San Jose provided
financial support. This last factor raises questions about the role
of migrants. First and foremost, are they a potential political force
for further economic development in Yelapa? My research suggests that
they may very well be.
A separate question was why migrants in San Jose had not become more
formally organized for the benefit of their sending village into a HTA
or a structured informal group such as “Grupo Union” in
Newburgh, New York. It was apparent that San Jose Yelapans had successfully
established supportive migrant networks, within which they had little
difficulty organizing and planning for social events and cultural celebrations.
My research shows that migrants in San Jose are committed to collectively
contributing for the benefit of Yelapa, but so far have not yet been
ready to do so within a formalized structure. As Fletcher (1999) found
with the similar organizational success of Napizareño migrants
from Michoacán, Yelapan migrants successfully contribute towards
development projects through collective remittances despite their inconsistent
history of communal labor and organization in the sending village. Although
two main organizers in San Jose vocalized their wishes for the creation
of a club that can execute the collection and planning of collective
remittances, they seem to be on the fence regarding whether the San
Jose Yelapan community will support such an endeavor. It will also take
stronger collaboration and communication between organizers in San Jose
and those in Yelapa to solidify the mechanisms for implementing a seamless
process of binational teamwork for the completion of projects funded
by collective remittances.
Since the completion of my research, evidence has been presented which
supports the probability that Yelapans between localities will increase
their collaboration and level of organization. In May of 2005, Yelapa
residents who have been involved in organizing the annual religious
festivals formed a committee to oversee the planning and implementation
of the church’s renovations and improvements. They have received
support from the current priest, whose intentions are to act as an advocate
within the diocese for Yelapa’s church development project. His
support is important, since according to Arcelia, who collects remittances
in San Jose for Yelapa’s religious festivals, a certain amount
of the combined Yelapan money has been leaving Yelapa as a contribution
to the diocese. Interestingly, Arcelia emphasizes that during her recent
annual visit to the village, the newly formed committee in Yelapa was
pressuring her to better organize migrants in San Jose so that their
contributions and participation might be more effective.
Despite the current informal level of collective organizing in San Jose,
the practice of collecting and sending remittances for Yelapa’s
development projects, cultural and religious festivals, and family emergencies
plays an enormous role in the way that migrants unite among themselves
in San Jose, negotiate their relationships to and membership in their
sending community, redefine and construct their identity, and embed
themselves within the larger Yelapan transnational community. Because
of this, and exemplifying the theories of transnational identities in
developed in Guarnizo and Smith (1998), the identities of Yelapans living
in separate localities cannot be separated from one another. Instead
they are constantly reflecting values, cultural norms, and priorities
upon one another. Aside from the ways that collective remittances provide
avenues for migrant identity and community membership, it cannot be
forgotten that the primary benefit of collective remittances goes to
the village of Yelapa, which would currently have less of its basic
needs met without migrant contributions. In this way, collective remittances
must be seen as a form of investment or social insurance for a community
that has little governmental support, and limited economic opportunities.
The social insurance aspect of collective remittances also facilitates
the existence of dual residential options for migrants. While investing
in Yelapa, migrants keep open the possibility of return by increasing
the attractiveness of a future life in their sending village as well
as by maintaining social status within Yelapa. Whether migrants actually
choose to return permanently in large numbers or not remains to be seen.
Because there exists a growing amount of academic research focused on
Mexican migration within transnational contexts, this study is useful
both in the broad sense that it contributes to this literature, and
in the way that it specifically offers a perspective which has not been
explored much: that of transnational hometown and community development
in formation. It is precisely this gestational nature of Yelapan transnational
organizing which commands attention within my research, as it illuminates
a process of becoming, as opposed to a state of being. Furthermore,
unexplored preliminary findings of this study point to future research.
For example, the sudden increase in technology used in Yelapa is beginning
to have visible effects on social relationships, such as the shift occurring
from women communally hand washing laundry in the river to machine washing
it individually in their homes. Fletcher (1999) similarly found such
changes in social space occurring with the incorporation of western
style housing in Napízaro, Michoacán. Technology has additionally
presented itself in the sudden surge in modes of communication available
to Yelapans. Whereas prior to the arrival of electricity the entire
town shared one telephone, today the majority of Yelapan households
have their own, and the use of fax and email is steadily becoming incorporated
into the village’s business life. Results include a general increase
in transnational communication, more efficient options for advertising
and selling services to tourists, and the erosion of the complete isolation
previously felt in Yelapa.
My research indicates that Yelapans are currently at a crossroads between
the emergence of collective remittances and potential formal organizing.
This positionality allows them to hang on to an identity free from the
constraints of institutional frameworks, within which some of the literature
referencing HTAs (Goldring 2001, 2002b; Zabin and Escala-Rabadan 1997)
suggests that identity can be influenced and sometimes become fixed.
Above all, this study speaks to a process in formation, with migrants
solidifying transnational identities and their place within the Yelapan
community vis-à-vis collective remittances.
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