Commodity Migrants: A Structural Analysis of Mexican Immigration to the United States
Author: Bustamante, Jorge A.
Date Published: 1975
This essay consists of four sections. The first deals with the conceptual frame of reference within which Mexican immigration to the United States will be analyzed. In this section, the concept of commodity-migration is introduced as an attempt to explain the association between immigration and capital expansion in the historical context of the class structure of the United States border region and, 2) the process of formation of cultural meanings in the superstructual or ideological dimension of the social relations of capitalist production. In such a context, migration is understood as a social relationship that takes place in the are f relations of production in which migrant behavior consists basically of self transportation of the migrant's labor power, conceived as a commodity, to where the capital investor requires it. The second section focuses on some aspects of the historical background of Mexican immigration to the United States. The historical approach of this section derives from the conceptualization of commodity-migration discussed in the previous section, in which it is contended that Mexican immigration to the United States has responded to an immigration policy aimed at the creation and maintenance of a cheap labor pool for the benefit of capital interests, particularly in agricultural production. A distinction is mad in this section between various types of Mexican immigration, namely undocumented or illegal immigration, braceros and commuters or trajetas verdes. The third section deals with some macro-social aspects of immigration to the United States at large, which are discussed from the theoretical perspective of the concept commodity-migration outlined in the first section. Focus is placed in this section on the process of formation of cultural meanings in the supersturctual context of capitalist relations of production. The fourth section focuses on the social relations of the undocumented immigrant in the context of class structure of the border region. This context is illustrated by the use of social types or typical people who enter and/or affect the social relations of the undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
Date Published: 1975
This essay consists of four sections. The first deals with the conceptual frame of reference within which Mexican immigration to the United States will be analyzed. In this section, the concept of commodity-migration is introduced as an attempt to explain the association between immigration and capital expansion in the historical context of the class structure of the United States border region and, 2) the process of formation of cultural meanings in the superstructual or ideological dimension of the social relations of capitalist production. In such a context, migration is understood as a social relationship that takes place in the are f relations of production in which migrant behavior consists basically of self transportation of the migrant's labor power, conceived as a commodity, to where the capital investor requires it. The second section focuses on some aspects of the historical background of Mexican immigration to the United States. The historical approach of this section derives from the conceptualization of commodity-migration discussed in the previous section, in which it is contended that Mexican immigration to the United States has responded to an immigration policy aimed at the creation and maintenance of a cheap labor pool for the benefit of capital interests, particularly in agricultural production. A distinction is mad in this section between various types of Mexican immigration, namely undocumented or illegal immigration, braceros and commuters or trajetas verdes. The third section deals with some macro-social aspects of immigration to the United States at large, which are discussed from the theoretical perspective of the concept commodity-migration outlined in the first section. Focus is placed in this section on the process of formation of cultural meanings in the supersturctual context of capitalist relations of production. The fourth section focuses on the social relations of the undocumented immigrant in the context of class structure of the border region. This context is illustrated by the use of social types or typical people who enter and/or affect the social relations of the undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
