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Social relations between transit migrants and humanitarian organisations : power, mobilities, and the experiences of Central American migrants in Mexico
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Herrera Rosales, Erika (2021) Social relations between transit migrants and humanitarian organisations : power, mobilities, and the experiences of Central American migrants in Mexico. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3856247
Abstract
This thesis explores the implications of the relationship between migrants and humanitarian organisations known as casas del migrante in Mexico. As these organisations provide basic resources to migrants trying to reach the United States, they become highly regarded and are indisputably relevant to migrants’ journeys. This thesis argues that whilst migrants receive help and support from these organisations, additional factors complicate this relationship and affect migrants’ mobilities and experiences. Based on nine months of fieldwork in the cities of Tapachula, Mexico City, and Tijuana, the research analyses 38 semi-structured interviews with NGO staff members and migrants. It centres on Honduran, Salvadorean, and Guatemalan transit migrants travelling northbound. In a supplementary way, the thesis also examines 21 published documents from these organisations that shed light on the competing objectives and roles that these organisations strive to accomplish. My research first addresses migrants’ stories as they journey through Mexico. I showcase some of their stories to illustrate their own perspectives of the difficulties and challenges of migration. Then, I examine what happens inside these humanitarian organisations. Although having benign intentions, these organisations’ actions do not necessarily align with their contingent participation in the global management of migration, nor with their punitive practices that reveal inherent and previously understudied power dynamics, control, and authority over migrants. This study also delves into the primary roles of organisations that advocate for, accompany, and seek to integrate migrants. It argues that in doing so, organisations participate, indirectly and directly, in the dissuasion of migration. Next, I consider how staff members perceive and enact discourses and practices based on migrants’ safety, protection, and victimhood, that reinforce misconceived stereotypes about migrants’ identities and act to marginalise them further. Finally, I take into account migrants’ narratives and perceptions of these organisations that demonstrate the ambiguities of the relationship between them and NGOs. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to the scholarship on migration studies by presenting an empirically informed discussion on the consequences of the complex, ambivalent, and power-driven relationship between casas del migrante and North Central American migrants in Mexico.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General) H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Immigrants -- United States, Mexicans -- United States, Central Americans -- Mexico, Humanitarian assistance -- Mexico, Humanitarianism -- Mexico | ||||
Official Date: | September 2021 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Sociology | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Bhambra, Gurminder K. ; Chamberlen, Anastasia | ||||
Sponsors: | University of Warwick. Chancellor’s International Scholarship ; Consejo nacional de ciencia y tecnología (México) | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | 256 leaves | ||||
Language: | eng |
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