Nostalgia por la tierra, nostalgia por el dolar: Guatemalan transnational lives and ideology of return migration
Nostalgia por la tierra, nostalgia por el dolar: Guatemalan transnational lives and ideology of return migration
https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2001.04.a03
Keywords:
Guatemalan migrants, ideology, processes and patterns during migrationAbstract
This paper addresses the ideology of return among contemporary Guatemalan migrants living and working in the southwestern desert city of Phoenix in Arizona. In Phoenix’s metropolitan area, Guatemalans (both Ladino and Maya ethnic groups) add to the city’s cultural mosaic, and at the same time, are vital agents for change in Guatemalan society. Little is known about the processes and patterns behind Guatemalan migration despite the fact that over 10 percent of Guatemala’s population currently resides in the United States. Most Guatemalans in Phoenix, regardless of their length of residence in the United States, express longings for return to their homeland. In part, this strong notion of return prevails because the Guatemalan community in the Phoenix metropolitan area is not cohesive.Resumen
Este escrito es un estudio acerca de la ideología de retorno existente en los migrantes guatemaltecos que actualmente viven y trabajan en la ciudad de Phoenix, ubicada en la zona suroeste del desierto de Arizona, en los Estados Unidos. En el área metropolitana de Phoenix, los guatemaltecos —tanto del grupo ladino como del grupo maya— se suman al mosaico cultural de la ciudad, y al mismo tiempo son agentes de cambio vitales de la comunidad guatemalteca a la cual pertenecen. Muy poco se sabe acerca de los procesos y patrones que hay detrás de la migración de los habitantes de Guatemala hacia los Estados Unidos, a pesar de que 10% de la población de aquel país reside actualmente en la unión americana. La mayoría de los guatemaltecos que viven en Phoenix, independientemente del tiempo que tienen residiendo en los Estados Unidos, expresan un profundo deseo de regresar a su lugar de origen. Parte de este fuerte sentimiento de retorno prevalece debido a que la comunidad guatemalteca del área metropolitana de Phoenix no se encuentra unida.References
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