Borderlands without borders : migrants in transit in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

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2015-05

Authors

Morante Aguirre, Mariana

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Abstract

Each year, thousands of undocumented migrants in transit travelling on "La Bestia" through the Western route cross the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico- the second largest metropolitan area in the country. This thesis focuses on how the intersection between the "illegality" of Central American migrants and Mexican "nationals" creates a contested space of undefined border(s) through State's processes, everyday practices, political discourses, and landscapes. The research provides a spatial analysis of migrants in transit's trajectories, as well as of their experiences and relations with both the built environment and with the "locals" in a specific urban context. The analysis sheds light into the distinct ways through which migrants' trajectories are qualified by legal status, and by specific political, social and cultural imaginations and discourses of space. Furthermore, in an effort to "bring the humans back" to migratory narratives, this thesis brings to the fore the multiplicity and diversity of migrants' stories and trajectories while uncovering how the mobilization of the State and civil society creates racial and class borders that further marginalizes migrants in transit through the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

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