RETURN MIGRATIONS, ASSIMILATION, AND CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS AMONG MEXICAN AMERICAN PROFESSIONALS FROM THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF SOUTH TEXAS A Dissertation by JESUS ALBERTO GARCIA Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2011 Major Subject: Sociology Return Migrations, Assimilation, and Cultural Adaptations among Mexican American Professionals from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas Copyright 2011 Jesus Alberto Garcia RETURN MIGRATIONS, ASSIMILATION, AND CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS AMONG MEXICAN AMERICAN PROFESSIONALS FROM THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF SOUTH TEXAS A Dissertation by JESUS ALBERTO GARCIA Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Rogelio Saenz Committee Members, Stjepan G. Mestrovic William Alex McIntosh Marco Portales Head of Department, Mark Fosset May 2011 Major Subject: Sociology iii ABSTRACT Return Migrations, Assimilation, and Cultural Adaptations among Mexican American Professionals from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. (May 2011) Jesus Alberto Garcia, B.A., University of Texas Pan American; M.S., University of Texas Pan American Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Rogelio Saenz Studies of Mexican American integration have come to a methodological and theoretical impasse. Conventional investigations have provided limited insight as they are outsider-based perspectives examining native-born minorities within the context of the immigrant experience and race-cycle paradigms. Grounded in cultural ideologies and nationalist narratives, dominant descriptions of minorities have created a conceptual strait that circumscribes the discourse of assimilationists‟ models of integration. Moreover, studies of marginal groups produce negative consequences by highlighting cultural differences that tautologically reinforce the grounds for exclusion. Little grounded work has been conducted specifically looking at racialized native-born minorities and the dynamics of their generational process of integration. Through embedded ethnography and participant narratives, this research provides direct insight into processes of contemporary integration and the social structural accommodation of native-born Mexican Americans. As a means of sidestepping conceptual barriers, this iv discussion theoretically frames the integration of Mexican American professionals within the context of modernity and liberal human development. By responding to the above critiques, this paper presents an alternative approach to the analysis and explanation of the roots of race-cycle paradigms in the first section. The second section establishes the context for the research and explains the basis for the dissertation‟s structure and conceptual arguments. As a means of moving the discourse away from established models, the third section provides a critical overview of the classical and contemporary literature on minority integration through a process of textual deconstruction. In addition, the third section also constructs a theoretical dynamic between structural determinations and individual adaptations to modernity that promotes integration. The fourth section describes the non-traditional method of data collection that provides direct insight into the processes of native-born minority cultural and structural incorporation. Through participant voices, the fifth section describes how individual interactions and institutional forces are shaping the social place that Mexican American professionals have created on the borderlands of American culture and society. What the interpretive findings suggest in the last section is that Mexican American professionals are constructing and re-defining their own social and cultural place out of the elements that modern society provides and not as the race-cycle theory predicts. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... v 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research rationale ......................................................................................... 2 1.2 The Borderlands as living laboratory and site of study ................................. 5 1.3 The bi-cultural setting ................................................................................... 6 1.4 Theoretical syncretism .................................................................................. 7 1.5 Methodological foundations .......................................................................... 12 1.6 Social place ................................................................................................... 14 1.7 Guiding questions and preliminary findings ................................................. 16 1.8 Section conclusion ......................................................................................... 21 2. WHAT FOLLOWS NEXT ................................................................................. 23 3. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…………. 28 3.1 Review of the pertinent literature ............................................................... 30 3.2 Canonical explanations and expectations ................................................... 32 3.3 Contemporary descriptions ........................................................................ 36 3.4 Cultural descriptions and segmented inclusion .......................................... 38 3.5 Structural approaches and marginal accommodations... ............................ 40 3.6 Deconstructing the canons and apostles of assimilation ............................ 45 3.7 Synthesis of theoretical perspectives .......................................................... 50 3.8 Fundamental exclusions ............................................................................. 51 3.9 Parallel perspectives ................................................................................... 52 3.10 Structural considerations ............................................................................. 54 3.11 Bridging structure and human action .......................................................... 56 3.12 Micro dynamics and human capital ............................................................ 58 3.13 Hegemonic reproduction ............................................................................. 59 3.14 Social rewards and inclusion…. .................................................................. 60 3.15 Advantages and adaptive strategies ............................................................. 61 4. METHODS .......................................................................................................... 64 4.1 Parallel narratives .......................................................................................... 64 vi Page 4.2 Critical ethnographies ................................................................................... 64 4.3 Structural cultural accommodations .............................................................. 67 4.4 Data sources and sample selection ................................................................ 68 4.5 Embedded field methods ............................................................................... 71 4.6 Limitations .................................................................................................... 73 4.7 Contributions ................................................................................................. 74 5. INTERVIEWS AND FINDINGS ....................................................................... 75 5.1 Departure ....................................................................................................... 76 5.2 Reception and experiences ............................................................................ 81 5.3 Military trajectories ....................................................................................... 81 5.4 Civilian trajectories ....................................................................................... 84 5.5 Business trajectories ...................................................................................... 89 5.6 Return reasons ............................................................................................... 94 5.7 Post experiential sense of self ....................................................................... 100 5.8 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 101 6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 106 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 114 VITA ......................................................................................................................... 122 1 1. INTRODUCTION Race-cycle model descriptions have guided sociological studies of minority integration in the United States over the last century. Considering the social and structural changes that have transpired since early studies it is here presented that race- cycle models have become