Peer review

Abstract in English, Chinese and Spanish

Over the past two decades, many of Mexico's rural communities have been faced with significant challenges arising from two interrelated processes: the neoliberal restructuring of rural policy and citizenship, and the dramatic increase in transnational migration. The ways in which local communities experience and respond to such changes, however, are variable. We examine the intersection of neoliberal socioeconomic change and transnational migration in the Totonacapan region of Veracruz, highlighting their uneven regional impacts in the largely Mestizo coastal region and the more indigenous sierra. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we show how neoliberal change is filtered through local historical trajectories and cultural understandings that influence the development of migration in the region. We suggest how different conceptions of social responsibility influence the outcomes of migration, with some communities experiencing severe dislocation and others managing the process for the benefit of the common. In both cases, we argue, the new economic subjectivities arising from intensified migration can be seen as a symptom, and thus potentially a source of ethical critique, of neoliberalism's many failures.

Text in English