Embodied Cartographies of Mexican-Canadian Transnationalism

University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2013 Embodied cartographies of Mexican-Canadian transnationalism Maria Frances Cachon University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Cachon, Maria Frances, "Embodied cartographies of Mexican-Canadian transnationalism" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4729. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/4729 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). 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EMBODIED CARTOGRAPHIES OF MEXICAN-CANADIAN TRANSNATIONALISM By Maria Frances Cachon A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2013 © 2013 Maria Frances Cachon Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-79305-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-79305-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. EMBODIED CARTOGRAPHIES OF MEXICAN-CANADIAN TRANSNATIONALISM by Maria Frances Cachon APPROVED BY: ______________________________________________ Committee Member, Department ______________________________________________ Committee Member, Department ______________________________________________ Advisor’s Name, Advisor ______________________________________________ Chair of Defense Name, Chair of Defense (02-07-2013) DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this dissertation and that no part of this dissertation has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. iii ABSTRACT Given that processes of globalization now significantly trouble the ‘natural’ boundaries of geographic territories, questions of spatiality—space and place, boundaries and mobility, flows and interconnections—have become foundational to contemporary migration research. In this context, scholars now generally acknowledge that many migrants organize their daily lives across the borders of nation states. This dissertation explores the under researched transnational lives of Mexican migrants in Canada—lives lived here and there. The study corroborates the widely perceived need to ‘ground’ the study of transnationalism, by advancing embodied transnationalism which explores the intimate, material and corporeal social-spatial relations from which the practices of transnational engagement are produced. The research highlights the importance of attending to affective transnationalism by demonstrating the emotive, intimate and subjective geographies of Mexican transnationalism in Canada, as well as their importance in shaping transnational practices. Findings document the existence of rich transnational social spaces, as well as the ways in which migrants are embedded in localities which are powerfully mediated by gender and class. Research participants’ stories of migration reflect the struggle of leading lives ‘in-between’ and a strong sense of belonging to place, or emotional embeddedness in Mexico. In this way, the research speaks to both: the fluid reconfigurative potential of transnationalism and the solid ‘multiple hegemonies’ that underpin Mexican migrants’ struggles to produce locality in an increasingly globalized world. iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to: My parents—Nancy Pfeifer and Antonio Cachón & “Team Smith”—Jeff, Ellie and Alec (all my love, all my life) v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the support and encouragement of my family and the faculty at the University of Windsor; I would therefore like to extend my sincere gratitude to them. First and foremost I must thank my husband, Jeff Smith, who made this dissertation possible. Jeff has been by my side every step of the way—sacrificing and enduring a great deal in support of my doctoral studies. His infectious drive and unwavering encouragement sustained my resolve to complete this research project. I am forever grateful to Jeff for his dedication to both our family and my academic aspirations. Of course, I also owe a dept of gratitude to the women and men who so graciously and generously entrusted their stories to me. I am indebted to Dr. Barry Adam for his guidance throughout the duration of my doctoral studies and particularly in the development of my research. The breadths of his knowledge and expertise have been an invaluable resource to my intellectual development. This dissertation was inspired by Dr. Tanya Basok’s pioneering work on Mexican temporary migrant workers in Canada, her critical yet supportive evaluation of my work charted its analytical progress. I want to thank Dr. Gerald Cradock who was enthusiastic about my research from the start, the questions he posed provoked me to more thoroughly think about ‘my audience’ and the policy and ‘real world’ implications of my work. I am also grateful to Dr. Valerie Scatamburlo-D’Annibale, who graciously offered her time and evaluated drafts of chapters in process, her attention to detail and helpful comments helped me stay on track and improved the quality of my work. I am thankful to have had the privilege of working with a Doctoral Committee, who not only ‘know their stuff’, but are also committed to publically engaged scholarship. I would also like to thank Dr. Lynne Phillips and Dr. Suzan Ilcan, their influence on this work cannot be overstated, the literature they exposed me to during my coursework completely changed the trajectory of my thinking about globalization, transnationalism and qualitative inquiry, all of which greatly informed my research. I am thankful to Angel Serrano and Margarita Atton who generously gave their time in serving as translators for this research. I am deeply and personally indebted to my mom—who introduced me to people I would have never otherwise met, let alone interviewed, were it not for her established inroads in the Mexican- Canadian ‘community’ in Southwestern Ontario. Her connections and translation assistance enabled me to

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