Tourists, Immigrants, and Family Units: Analysis of Tourism
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TOURISTS, IMMIGRANTS, AND FAMILY UNITS: ANALYSIS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION PATTERNS IN AND FROM THE BAYS OF HUATULCO, MEXICO. by GREGORY STEPHEN GULLETTE (Under the Direction of Benjamin G. Blount) ABSTRACT It has been argued that a promising opportunity to reduce Mexico’s internal pressures influencing out-migration remains in targeted development initiatives. By focusing development within economically depressed regions, it is possible to equalize some relative differences between Mexico and the United States. Overtime this would reduce Mexico’s domestic push-factors associated with Mexico-U.S. migration. For the past few decades the Mexican government explored tourism development as one means to strengthen locally depressed economies and meet regional development initiatives. This dissertation explores the outcome of one such development site in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico. In this dissertation I explore how tourism development on the Oaxacan coast, implemented through the Mexican agency FONATUR, created, rather than eliminated, local conditions in the region that produced and sustained out-migration and undocumented migration into the U.S. Central to these local conditions affecting migration are the restrictions placed on local resource access, most notably the contentious issue of land. This dissertation tests three related propositions. First, that local Huatulco residents perceive tourism as reducing the availability of local resources due to the redirection of capital and natural resources to the tourist infrastructure. Second, the redirection of resources towards tourism development and the growing tourist presence has changed the actual or the expected standard of living for local residents. Third, local residents that perceive their standards of living cannot be raised in the context of tourism development decide to out-migrate to the U.S. After analyzing data collected through 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico, and drawing on research conducted in economic, political, and cultural migration studies, I argue that the structural conditions emerging through tourism development created the social networks perpetuating out-migration. I determine that the manner in which the state directed the tourism project significantly altered the local communities’ abilities to live in the region and influenced their decision-making process on whether or not to participate within undocumented migration. In the end, the success of the Huatulco tourism development project cannot be measured in pure economic or quantitative factors, but must include considerations on the qualitative restrictions that the Mexican government has created as practice in Huatulco. INDEX WORDS: Oaxaca, Migration, Tourism Development, Political Ecology, Huatulco, Development TOURISTS, IMMIGRANTS, AND FAMILY UNITS: ANALYSIS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION PATTERNS IN AND FROM THE BAYS OF HUATULCO, MEXICO. by GREGORY STEPHEN GULLETTE B.A., The University of Louisville 1999 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2004 © 2004 Gregory Stephen Gullette All Rights Reserved TOURISTS, IMMIGRANTS, AND FAMILY UNITS: ANALYSIS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION PATTERNS IN AND FROM THE BAYS OF HUATULCO, MEXICO. by GREGORY STEPHEN GULLETTE Approved: Major Professor: Benjamin G. Blount Committee: Peter Brosius Kavita Pandit Amy Ross Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2004 DEDICATION To my mother, who for so long has helped me understand life’s complexities. And to those migrating from Huatulco, who, in just one year, helped me understand what some are willing to risk in life for the ones they love. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like most things in life, this dissertation is a product of numerous influences stretched out over several years. Some individuals have been by my side for years and others were somewhat momentary acquaintances, though still playing a significant role. This project would not have been possible without the assistance and support from a great number of individuals. I should perhaps begin by thanking those in Huatulco that allowed me the opportunity and pleasure to learn from them. Their honesty, sincerity, and kindness showed me things I had never fully thought of and they taught me through their actions what some individuals are willing to chance for their families. Crossing the border as an undocumented migrant can be dangerous. The fact that so many risk their lives for a better life for themselves and their families was astounding. Learning from them, seeing their obstacles, and knowing what day-to-day problems they dealt with, I believe made me a better person, and I hope in the end, a better advocate for their struggles, both in Mexico and in the United States. I would also like to thank my committee members (past and present). Your help, assistance, and patience have been greatly appreciated throughout the stages of my graduate career. Without your thoughtfulness and motivation this dissertation certainly would not have been possible. The lessons I have learned through the process of producing this work will not easily be forgotten. I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to Ben Blount, my committee chair, who has over the past five years offered enormous support for my research, even if it diverged from his own interests at times. His willingness to help me has been a source of constancy, one that I frequently relied upon and greatly benefited from. I am also thankful for the opportunity to have worked with v Alex Brewis and Peter Brosius. Alex over the past several years, starting with my research in New Zealand on conservation and forestry, has proven to be one of the most helpful professors I have had the pleasure to know. Her suggestions on this work, past and future work, and general professionalism in the field of anthropology have been invaluable. Peter has also been a source of motivation and inspiration, not only in this dissertation but for future research, where his guidance in humanistic writing will undoubtedly be welcomed and accepted. I am also lucky to have worked with Kavita Pandit, who has offered wonderful suggestions and constructive feedback in the time I have known her, which I hope does not end with this dissertation. Of course, this dissertation goes beyond my time collecting and analyzing data. My initial interests in anthropology, and particularly cultural anthropology, were in many ways influenced by my friendships with Julie Peteet, Lisa Markowitz, and Robert L. Kelly at the University of Louisville. Discussions with Julie and Lisa in particular sparked much of my interest in development and the issues in power and who gets what and why. Tim Wallace at North Carolina State University, who gave me my first opportunity to conduct ethnographic research in Latin America, initiated my interests in the theoretical foundations and practicalities of research in tourism. That first ethnographic experience, one I pleasantly recall, planted me in the field of cultural anthropology. I would like to thank some of my closest friends, both at the University of Georgia and elsewhere, who have made my undergraduate and graduate studies in anthropology, not only possible, but enjoyable. I thank Kelly, Tiffany, Sarah, Yadi, April, Elizabeth, Carlos, Tiffanie, Jen, Ana, Beth Harvey, Beth O’Hara, and Vero for vi some of my fondest memories and best times. You all helped in numerous ways with this process or simply kept me sane throughout it. The faculty in the department of anthropology, particularly Margie and Charlotte, has been tremendously helpful with all of the bureaucracy associated with finishing a graduate degree. Their friendships and support have made the process incredibly smooth and all graduate students should be so lucky to have such a department filled with incredibly talented and wonderful individuals. I would also like to thank Christian who has been a cherished friend in Xalapa… a delightful person with patience unseen. Much of the political and economic data contained in this dissertation would not be present were it not for her. Other sources of support in Huatulco were my field assistant Lupe, my adopted parents Flor and Miguel, and my friends throughout the various sectors of Huatulco. I am, of course, indebted to my family for their love and encouragement throughout all of my educational and personal endeavors. It has certainly been a long journey but I am grateful to have you all with me. Marlene, Sam, Meliah, Virginia, and Larry, this would not have been possible without you. At last, but not least, I have two important individuals to recognize. I most certainly have to thank Sayamon. I could write for days on how much support, kindness, and love she has given me over the past couple of years, but such isn’t practical. It should simply be said that without her strength and patience, through both the year in Mexico and the past several months of writing this dissertation, I certainly would not have been able to make it through either process. She is my love, my beauty, and perhaps unfortunately for her at times, my personal psychiatrist. vii I also need to thank “Christopher Barrett McClintock,” my best friend and the one of two people I tell everything to. Since middle school he has been by my side and is, in all seriousness, a treasured friend (going beyond our music trades and fascination