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CIESAS Golfo The aim of this book is vast. At the title indicates, life and society in the United States-Mexico borderlands is at the core of the study, but the author also proposes a framework for describing and understanding border phenomena in general. Guided by human ecological considerations that lead him to stress the role of the border environment in shaping people's lives, the author addresses broad conceptual issues about patterns and structural relationships that are presumably present in border areas in general. The border phenomenon is described in terms of similar experiences that shape the lives of people living in the region that lies adjacent to the established states boundaries. Almost by definition, these boundaries have a frontier nature in the sense that they are distant from the core of the nation and constitute transition zones where people and institutions are shaped by unique experiences. Key elements in the process are the shared borderland experiences, which are determined to a large extent by the degree of cross-border interaction. This condition of borderlands existence, that is always determined elsewhere, is described using four models: alienated, coexistent, interdependent and integrated borderlands. These models refer to relative ease of cross-border interaction, associated to tension between nations and restrictions in the movement of people and goods across the boundary. This condition, together with location are powerful ingredients in the shaping of the borderlands and are key elements in setting them apart from their heartland. The unique forces that culminate the process are called the borderlands milieu and include transnational interaction, international conflict and accommodation, ethnic conflict and accommodation, and separateness. The model is illustrated with a description of the majorstages in the United States-Mexico border interaction and the way in which the changes affected local urban populations. Attention to the contemporary transnational interaction in the area sets the stage for the study's central concern. The core of the book describes the lives and social experiences of the United States-Mexico borderlanders. The author develops three sets of graphical models to illustrate a dichotomous national/transnational typology, a core periphery representation of the borderlands milieu and a set of major sources of cultural and lifestyle orientation. Using these tools, he describes the different types of borderlanders grouped according to the three major population groups: Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans. Standard border types are similar across population groups: newcomers, uniculturalists, nationalists, binational consumers, biculturalists, commuters and binationalists. In addition, some specific types are defined for each of these groups: transient migrants and settler migrants for Mexicans; assimilationists, advantaged and disadvantaged immigrants for Mexican Americans; and winter residents and residents in the Mexican border area, for Anglo-American borderlanders. The dryness of the classificatory scheme is exceedingly well balanced with the use of life histories to illustrate the different types. Summarized case studies illustrate the major sources of cultural and lifestyle orientation resulting from different people's exposure to the borderlands milieu. The third part of the book changes focus, concentrating on those who are more closely involved in core processes of the border experience, what Martinez calls transnational interaction 7"/feLATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 6(1) 61 and transculturation. Focus changes entirely from typologies into key actors of issues like ethnic confrontation, cross- border migration, border management, interdependence, labor, cultural fusion and social activism. The shift is stylistically supported by a different use of life histories. Actors take the stand and recount in their own words particular events of their lives in the borderlands. The accounts allow for a very vivid description of real daily life events. They also permit the reader to appreciate historical events and social processes very realistically as perceived by actors themselves. Overall, the book is enjoyable to read and it certainly makes a powerful point about the peculiar nature of border areas. It should be stressed that following Martinez, borderlands may be portrayed as "thresholds" in the sense that Victor Turner has used the word, that is, as a space betwixt and between successive normative spheres, a gap where almost anything can happen. The characterization of borderlands as "interims of liminality" is certainly a powerful image which may help to explain some of their peculiar features. The description of the United States-Mexico border region and the concise historical account of the major phases in border history together provide an excellent background for the presentation of border populations. These descriptions and categories employed are an excellent form of taking the nonspecialized reader into the complexities of border life and into the complex interactions of social processes occurring atthe limits of two very contrasting nations. The book is also a powerful teaching aid. Martinez uses case studies and life histories as the major source of data for the analysis. In addition, he uses life histories in two other important ways. The author puts to great use the abstracts of life histories to typify or depict a character. Images conveyed in this manner are powerful illustrations that allow for a critical assessment of the main point. The use of narrative life history events although occasionally boring is also powerful and useful because it lets the reader appreciate the way people speak, think, and create images about reality. The use of both case studies and life histories is well mastered by the author. The contrast of the use of both in the same book shows its versatility. Cultural Capital: Mountain Zapotec Migrant Associations in Mexico City. LANE RYO HIRABAYASHI. A PROFMEX Monograph. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1993. 157 pp., notes, bibliography, index. $35.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8165- 1377-5. JEFFREY H. COHEN Wright State University Cultural Capital is a satisfying and detailed analysis of Zapotec indian migration from the northern mountains of Oaxaca to Mexico City. Hirabayashi's discussion focuses on patterns of association and the cultural ramifications of migration. In addition, the author debunks the myth of the monolithic indian through the examination of variation in migrant strategies. His analysis of the relationship of local social formations and national development programs outlines the many forces that influence migrant decision making. Material on three Zapotec communities in the Villa Alta

Cultural Capital: Mountain Zapotec Migrant Associations in Mexico City

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Page 1: Cultural Capital: Mountain Zapotec Migrant Associations in Mexico City

CIESAS Golfo

The aim of this book is vast. At the title indicates, life andsociety in the United States-Mexico borderlands is at the coreof the study, but the author also proposes a framework fordescribing and understanding border phenomena in general.Guided by human ecological considerations that lead him tostress the role of the border environment in shaping people'slives, the author addresses broad conceptual issues aboutpatterns and structural relationships that are presumablypresent in border areas in general. The border phenomenonis described in terms of similar experiences that shape thelives of people living in the region that lies adjacent to theestablished states boundaries. Almost by definition, theseboundaries have a frontier nature in the sense that they aredistant from the core of the nation and constitute transitionzones where people and institutions are shaped by uniqueexperiences. Key elements in the process are the sharedborderland experiences, which are determined to a largeextent by the degree of cross-border interaction. This conditionof borderlands existence, that is always determined elsewhere,is described using four models: alienated, coexistent,interdependent and integrated borderlands. These modelsrefer to relative ease of cross-border interaction, associatedto tension between nations and restrictions in the movementof people and goods across the boundary. This condition,together with location are powerful ingredients in the shapingof the borderlands and are key elements in setting them apartfrom their heartland. The unique forces that culminate theprocess are called the borderlands milieu and includetransnational interaction, international conflict andaccommodation, ethnic conflict and accommodation, andseparateness. The model is illustrated with a description ofthe majorstages in the United States-Mexico border interactionand the way in which the changes affected local urbanpopulations. Attention to the contemporary transnationalinteraction in the area sets the stage for the study's centralconcern.

The core of the book describes the lives and socialexperiences of the United States-Mexico borderlanders. Theauthor develops three sets of graphical models to illustrate adichotomous national/transnational typology, a core peripheryrepresentation of the borderlands milieu and a set of majorsources of cultural and lifestyle orientation. Using these tools,he describes the different types of borderlanders groupedaccording to the three major population groups: Mexicans,Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans. Standard bordertypes are similar across population groups: newcomers,uniculturalists, nationalists, binational consumers,biculturalists, commuters and binationalists. In addition,some specific types are defined for each of these groups:transient migrants and settler migrants for Mexicans;assimilationists, advantaged and disadvantaged immigrantsfor Mexican Americans; and winter residents and residents inthe Mexican border area, for Anglo-American borderlanders.

The dryness of the classificatory scheme is exceedinglywell balanced with the use of life histories to illustrate thedifferent types. Summarized case studies illustrate the majorsources of cultural and lifestyle orientation resulting fromdifferent people's exposure to the borderlands milieu.

The third part of the book changes focus, concentrating onthose who are more closely involved in core processes of theborder experience, what Martinez calls transnational interaction

7"/feLATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 6(1) 61

and transculturation. Focus changes entirely from typologiesinto key actors of issues like ethnic confrontation, cross-border migration, border management, interdependence,labor, cultural fusion and social activism. The shift is stylisticallysupported by a different use of life histories. Actors take thestand and recount in their own words particular events of theirlives in the borderlands. The accounts allow for a very vividdescription of real daily life events. They also permit thereader to appreciate historical events and social processesvery realistically as perceived by actors themselves.

Overall, the book is enjoyable to read and it certainly makesa powerful point about the peculiar nature of border areas. Itshould be stressed that following Martinez, borderlands maybe portrayed as "thresholds" in the sense that Victor Turnerhas used the word, that is, as a space betwixt and betweensuccessive normative spheres, a gap where almost anythingcan happen. The characterization of borderlands as "interimsof liminality" is certainly a powerful image which may help toexplain some of their peculiar features. The description of theUnited States-Mexico border region and the concise historicalaccount of the major phases in border history together providean excellent background for the presentation of borderpopulations. These descriptions and categories employedare an excellent form of taking the nonspecialized reader intothe complexities of border life and into the complex interactionsof social processes occurring atthe limits of two very contrastingnations.

The book is also a powerful teaching aid. Martinez usescase studies and life histories as the major source of data forthe analysis. In addition, he uses life histories in two otherimportant ways. The author puts to great use the abstracts oflife histories to typify or depict a character. Images conveyedin this manner are powerful illustrations that allow for a criticalassessment of the main point. The use of narrative life historyevents although occasionally boring is also powerful anduseful because it lets the reader appreciate the way peoplespeak, think, and create images about reality. The use of bothcase studies and life histories is well mastered by the author.The contrast of the use of both in the same book shows itsversatility.

Cultural Capital: Mountain Zapotec MigrantAssociations in Mexico City. LANE RYOHIRABAYASHI. A PROFMEX Monograph. Tucson:University of Arizona Press, 1993. 157 pp., notes,bibliography, index. $35.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8165-1377-5.

JEFFREY H. COHENWright State University

Cultural Capital is a satisfying and detailed analysis ofZapotec indian migration from the northern mountains ofOaxaca to Mexico City. Hirabayashi's discussion focuses onpatterns of association and the cultural ramifications ofmigration. In addition, the author debunks the myth of themonolithic indian through the examination of variation inmigrant strategies. His analysis of the relationship of localsocial formations and national development programs outlinesthe many forces that influence migrant decision making.

Material on three Zapotec communities in the Villa Alta

Page 2: Cultural Capital: Mountain Zapotec Migrant Associations in Mexico City

62 7/teLATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 6(1)

district of Oaxaca provides the ethnographic background forHirabayashi's argument. He follows migrants from thesevillages through time and space as they move from Oaxaca toMexico City. A variety of associative patterns are foundamong them. Rather than categorizing these patterns intomore and less traditional forms of affiliation that are passivelyreproduced with little variation, the author examines each asalternative forms of social or cultural capital. As such,associative relationships based on kinship, reciprocity andmutual support are "tools" invested with value. The migrant isable to use these various forms of capital in daily life, adaptingthem to a lesser and greater degree depending on his or herindividual tastes, social standing, economic well-being, settingand so on.

In particular, Hirabayashi examines the place of paisanazgorelations (social bonds of mutual support and aid that areformed among migrants from the same community of origin)in migrant coping strategies (see chapter two for theoreticaldiscussion, and chapters three through six for ethnographicmaterial on various communities). What becomes clear inHirabayashi's discussion are the ways in which migrantsadapt social patterns of association and cultural ideology tonew and challenging circumstances. Whether a migrantchooses to remain part of an associative network is determined,at least in part, by his or her own needs and desires. Ratherthan a static model of indigenous culture threatened byeconomic change, the author's discussion of Zapotec migrationshows us how people constantly revise and reinterpret theircultural world.

Hirabayashi's bookshould be of interest to a large audience.For the specialist working on migration, his study isethnographically rich, filling in much of the detail that issometimes lacking in quantitative analyses of migration. Hisfocus on national population movement reminds us thatmigration is not solely a transnational process moving Mexicansback and forth to California. His development of the conceptof paisanazgo should be useful for those working ontransnational issues, and I would encourage individualsinterested in the subject to explore Cultural Capital moreclosely. The reader concerned with the ethnography of theZapotec will find this volume a welcomed resource, filled withdata on current social, economic, political and cultural trendsin Oaxaca. Finally, forthose interested in theory, Hirabayashi'sdiscussion of forms of capital is a clearly argued application ofa difficult and often controversial subject.

Resistance and Contradiction: Miskitu Indians andthe Nicaraguan State, 1894-1987. CHARLES R.HALE. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994.ix + 296pp. $42.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-8047-2255-2.

LAURA HOBSON HERLIHYUniversity of Kansas

Charles Hale brings to the fore an impressive new bookconcerning ethnicity and the state in Latin America. Based ona nuanced understanding of Miskitu interactions with theNicaraguan state-from the reincorporation of the AtlanticCoast in 1894, through the Sandinista revolution in 1979, tothe passing of the Miskitu Autonomy Law in 1987-Charles

Hale analyzes the emergence of the Miskitu people's ethnicidentity in Central America. This book explores how the"nation-building" process shapes and defines the collectiveidentity of indigenous groups in Latin America and beyond.

Resistance andContradictiontocuses on the confrontationsthat occurred in revolutionary Nicaragua between the Miskituand the Sandinistas. In this masterful work, Hale probes whythe Miskitu struggleforself-determination conflicted so directlywith "the Sandinistas' mobilization in defense of sovereignty"(p.15). To answer this question from both the Sandinista andMiskitu perspectives, Hale collected field data amongSandinista leaders in Bluefields and Miskitu villagers in SandyBay. He then marshaled his own field data to support theprocess of conflict resolution on the N/caraguan M/skito coast.Far from being a detached, social science observer, Halestudied interethnic relations during a revolution in which hehimself participated.

Resistance and Contradiction is very well organized. Chapter1 presents a skillful summary of ethnicity theory and thebook's principal hypothesis. Hale posits that vo latile situationscan erupt when subordinate ethnic groups simultaneouslyexperience increasing "outside" hegemonic ideas and "inside"ethnic militancy aimed at mobilizing people (pp.27-28). Chapter2 details the last century of Miskitu interactions withneocolonialists from the United States and with Nicaraguannational culture that, according to Hale, caused the Miskitupeoples to develop a "contradictory consciousness,"characterized by an outside "Anglo affinity" and inside "ethnicmilitancy." The main corpus of the book-chapters 4,5, and 6-uses the Miskitu as a case study to support Hale's ethnicmobilization hypothesis.

The Miskitu indians remained quiescent for nearly fiftyyears under the Somoza regime. Hale maintains that theM/skitu supported Somoza because they were included asmembers in this democratic, multicultural party, and becausethey approved of Somoza's policy which encouraged thepresence of North American businesses in Nicaragua. Then,the Miskitu joined forces with the Sandinistas (FSLN) in 1979,to fight against the country's elites in Somoza's centralgovernment. The Sandinista/Miskitu class-based alliancewasshort lived, however, ending afterthe Sandinistas claimedto have a Spanish-speaking mestizo national identity andafter they rejected all forms of hegemony. This politicallyalienated the Miskitu, who spoke an indigenous language, didnot define themselves as mestizos, and maintained strongeconomic and cultural bonds with North Americans on theAtlantic Coast. In reaction to Sandinista mestizo nationalism,the Miskitu created their own political party (MISURASATA)exclusively for those with an indigenous identity. Feelings ofethnic militancy deepened among the Miskitu peoples, whileat the same time, political and economic intervention by theUnited States increased along the coast. Following Hale'shypothesis, the stage was set for the Miskitu ethnic group tomobilize their ethnicity against the Nicaraguan state in UnitedStates backed aggressions.

The book's final chapters consider the Miskitu people'sreturn to peace with the state and the passing of the MiskituAutonomy Law. Hale points out that this legislation does notprovide for Miskitu self-rule. The book ends with a sense offoreboding surrounding the recent contradictions of the so-called Miskitu nation and the status of Miskitu autonomousregions.

The book's greatest strengths lie in its historical perspective