Undocumented Politics - by Abigail Leslie Andrews (Paperback)

About the Book

"Undocumented politics is a poignant ethnography of gender and political agency in North America's most excluded migrant communities. Author Abigail Andrews takes us from the indigenous villages of Oaxaca, Mexico into the lives of undocumented families in the barrios of Southern California and back. Drawing on two years of transnational fieldwork, archives, surveys, and the voices of migrants themselves, she compares the histories of two very distinct transnational communities. The book reveals how migrants' cross-border struggles are shaped by local practices of control, in both the places they live and the places they leave behind"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

In 2018, more than eleven million undocumented immigrants lived in the United States. Not since slavery had so many U.S. residents held so few political rights. Many strove tirelessly to belong. Others turned to their homelands for hope. What explains their clashing strategies of inclusion? And how does gender play into these fights?

Undocumented Politics offers a gripping inquiry into migrant communities' struggles for rights and resources across the U.S.-Mexico divide. For twenty-one months, Abigail Andrews lived with two groups of migrants and their families in the mountains of Mexico and in the barrios of Southern California. Her nuanced comparison reveals how local laws and power dynamics shape migrants' agency. Andrews also exposes how arbitrary policing abets gendered violence. Yet she insists that the process does not begin or end in the United States. Rather, migrants interpret their destinations in light of the hometowns they leave behind. Their counterparts in Mexico must also come to grips with migrant globalization. And on both sides of the border, men and women transform patriarchy through their battles to belong. Ambitious and intimate, Undocumented Politics reveals how the excluded find space for political voice.

From the Back Cover

"Hands down, Undocumented Politics is indispensable reading for anyone who cares about the lives of immigrants today and the future of their communities."-- Cecilia Menjívar, Foundation Distinguished Professor and Co-director of the Center for Migration Research, Department of Sociology, University of Kansas

"Abigail Andrew's sensitively observed, beautifully written account of everyday politics shows how and for whom the sites of political activism are changing and how these shifts can give voice and power to previously excluded groups."-- Peggy Levitt, author of Artifacts and Allegiances

" Andrews offers us nothing less than a new model of transnational politics. Highly original and beautifully written, this book will have a lasting impact on the way we think about the politics of migration."--Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, author of Paradise Transplanted

"Substantially advances research in this field. Andrews clearly listens to her informants, carefully traces processes within and across the cases of Retorno and Partida, is agile in her use of theory, and delights in finding and explaining unexpected outcomes. I really enjoyed reading this book." --Robert Courtney Smith, Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, and Sociology Department, Graduate Center, CUNY

Review Quotes

"Andrews has delivered an insightful, well-researched exposition on Mexican migration in the United States. . . . Undocumented Politics successfully showcases the ways that undocumented migrant women have self-advocated, despite their lack of access to legal and electoral outlets of political activism."-- "California History"

"Undocumented Politics provides rich theoretical advances to literature on transnational political strategies, the role of local-level contexts, and immigrant 'illegality.' . . . a powerful read that contributes to the literature on international migration, undocumented immigrants, and gender."-- "ILR Review"

"I highly recommend this engaging and elegant monograph, suitable for students and researchers of migration and borders."-- "American Journal of Sociology"

About the Author

Abigail Leslie Andrews is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego.