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Mixtec Transnational Identity

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Velasco's work has been one of the most compelling and needed in the area of Indigenous immigrants. She manages to discuss how Indigenous transnationals to work towards change, and, in doing so, she points to the need for examination of methodologies with respect to work within Indigenous communities. This work, skillfully written about with respect to Mixteco transnationals and other Indigenous immigrants from Mexico, is necessary. Her work as part of scholarship on Indigenous groups points to the fact that that many are community organizers; however, others Indigenous immigrants may strategically choose not to identify as such in order to avoid being tapped as a cheap source of labor. The economic and material benefits of being perceived as another group could mitigate against such cultural identity formation. Velasco argues that for Mixtec people this "ethnic identity" comes into play in migration. Her point is that this consciousness is related to movement across borders as transnationals. Her work poses questions about hegemony, especially as related to gender, within Indigenous communities formed strategically to enact social change. A thoughtful piece that deserves attention, this book is a wonderful resource for scholars and educators and activists who can learn much from the work on transnational identities.

Mixtec Transnational Identity examines in detail the emergence of transnational indigenous organizations and communities throughout the Mexico-U.S. border area. Written with scholarly attention to detail by professor- researcher Laura Velasco Ortiz, Mixtec Transnational Identity covers such topics as the political construction of the transnational ethnic community, boundaries of gender and ethnicity within the community, and how policies of migration interplay with labor markets. Extensively researched and supported with both statistics and anecdotes, Mixtec Transnational Identity is a valuable resource for better understanding the political, ethnic, and sociological fabric of transnational communities and their interplay with America and Mexico as a whole.