Maria Cristina Morales

Transnational Behavior in Comparative Perspective

This paper examines transnationalism across migrant generational statuses in three urban centers. The objective of this study is to explore how immigrant integration influences the maintenance of social and economic connections with the communities-of-origin. To accomplish this objective we examine the impact of socio-economic status and generational status (first to third) on whether respondents remit, visit their communities-of-origin, or desire to return. The data for this study is based on survey data collected in New York City, New York, U.S.A.;El Paso, Texas, U.S.A.;and Paris, France. We find that transnational practices differ across the three locations. In Paris we find evidence of reactive transnationalism — looking abroad due to exclusion in the new society. In New York, however, there is more support for resource-based transnationalism — better legal and socioeconomic integration that allows for more transnational involvement. Transnationalism in El Paso differs from NYC and Paris in large part due to being located along the U.S.-Mexico border. Surprisingly, we find that El Paso respondents are less transnational than those in Paris or New York when it comes to remittances, visiting, and the desire to return to the sending community. We conclude by proposing a new typology of transnationalism that accentuates the contextual aspects of these practices.

Disposability and Resistance in a Male Dominated Industry: Latina Immigrants Organizing in Residential Construction

In a recent campaign to organize immigrant workers in the male dominated residential construction industry, Latina immigrants spearheaded the demand for labor rights in Las Vegas, Nevada. To investigate these gendered phenomena, we use a politically engaged ethnography along with semi-structured interviews of seventy-one Latina/o immigrant construction workers and union leaders. This study finds that masculinity culture and structures that exclude Latina immigrants can facilitate their participation in labor organizing. Indeed, rather than enacting masculinities, these Latina immigrants upheld traditionally feminine norms that created a political opening for labor organizing.

The Influence of Sexual Racism on Erotic Capital: A Systemic Racism Perspective

Within different sexual fields, different characteristics are given more erotic “worth.” Individual actors within a given sexual field attempt to maximize their erotic capital by highlighting those characteristics that are considered desirable within the sexual field in which they compete for sexual partners. Largely ignored in studies about sexual fields are examinations into the ways that sexual desires are racialized. So, while these theories and concepts have brought us far in our understanding of the ways that race and sexuality are intimately linked and how social structures influence sexual desires, there is still a lack of perspective when it comes to the ways that race and racism influences sexual desire for, and among, gay men of color. We argue that while different sexual fields produce different erotica specific to that field, sexual racism is nonetheless persistent across all sexual fields, resulting in Black men still accruing less erotic capital, even when they possess all of the qualities that should make them desirable within a given sexual field.

Why is Family Violence Lower Among Mexican Immigrants? The Protective Features of Mexican Culture

Although immigrants tend to be less involved in crime than the native-born, less is known about whether immigration is protective regarding family violence and, if so, why. This is especially problematic given that some cultural features of immigrants, such as machismo, may increase family violence. Using a random sample of adults in El Paso County, Texas, the present study finds that family violence is substantially lower among first generation Mexican immigrants compared to 1.5 generation immigrants, second generation Americans and third generation or higher Americans. Higher levels of acculturation to Mexico among first generation immigrants partially mediated, or explained, this finding. However, familism and machismo were not higher among first generation Mexican immigrants; and, while lower among first generation immigrants, acculturation to the US was not associated with higher levels of family violence. Implications of these findings are discussed.