Migration Studies Commons^™

Analysis Of The Effects Of Nafta On Rural Farmers In Mexico: Agriculture And Immigration, Kevin Xavier Garcia-Galindo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper examines the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on agricultural workers in rural Mexico and immigration rates from those regions. The paper aims to investigate the validity of claims regarding the impact of NAFTA on immigration and agriculture, which are often interconnected. By focusing on the rural farming communities of Mexico, the study incorporates ethnographic perspectives to complement existing academic research on NAFTA. The research question explores how NAFTA affected agricultural workers in rural Mexico and its implications for immigration patterns. Through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with individuals involved in rural farming, …

Belonging And Identity In Mustang: Lived Experiences, Social Identities, And Mobility Patterns Among Himalayan Peoples Of Nepal, Lauren Carter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper delves into an immersive exploration and contemplation of a pivotal transformation unfolding in the heartland of Lower Mustang, Nepal. What began as an endeavor to channel my creative expression and unearth the diminishing world of yak herding soon necessitated a broader, more nuanced analysis of the profound changes sweeping across the region. This paper, mainly drawing upon the narratives of the inhabitants, seeks to portray the contemporary cultural and capital significance of yaks, as well as the various factors— climate change, outmigration, national policy discrepancies, conservation initiatives, and shifting cultural paradigms— that render specific patterns of movement increasingly …

“Sobrevivientes” O “Trabajadoras”: La Representación De Mujeres Migrantes Y Racializadas En El Debate Actual Acerca Del Trabajo Sexual Y La Prostitución En Argentina, Jaya Duckworth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A pesar de los avances feministas revolucionarios en las últimas dos décadas en Argentina, el movimiento feminista se ha vuelto más polarizado sobre el tema de la prostitución y el trabajo sexual. El abolicionismo, que es el lado hegemónico en este debate, suele invisibilizar las mujeres migrantes y racializadas que se identifican a sí mismas como trabajadoras sexuales, a pesar de que ellas ocupan un gran papel en el mercado sexual. Este proyecto se propone analizar las retóricas de los dos grandes lados en este debate, con un enfoque en los temas de migración y raza. En primer lugar, este …

Born A Foreigner: Tibetan Statelessness In India, Sonam Rikha

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A majority of the Tibetans in India are stateless, meaning that they have citizenship to no internationally recognized country. India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and has no national refugee framework. Therefore, residents of India are either designated as foreigners or citizens. Tibetans—including those that were born in India—are labeled as “foreigners” in India. Stateless Tibetans in India have no permanent legal status, making them vulnerable to detention and deportation. Furthermore, stateless Tibetans can’t buy property, have limited educational and career opportunities, and constantly have to renew documentation in order to reside in India. While …

Shifting Relations: How Spain And Morocco’S Bilateral Relationship Affects Violence At The Border, Elizabeth Driscoll

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco is a key transit country for many migrants trying to reach Europe, due to its shared land border with Spain, and Spain’s initiation into the European Union in 1986. Through informal interviews, current literature, Moroccan and Spanish news articles, and migrants’ stories, it can be seen that the changing bilateral relationship between Spain and Morocco creates violence at the border. Spain and Morocco’s unequal relationship is built upon economic dependency and colonialization. Spain wants to control Ceuta and Melilla border, the physical representation of “othering,” to cling to its “superior” identity, while Morocco hopes to further develop its economy …

Irregular Migration In Morocco: A Case For Constructionism, Mourad Khalil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Separated by only 14 kilometers of water from Spain, Morocco has become a common destination for many sub-Saharan irregular migrants trying to reach Europe. With a large population of these migrants, Morocco has had to make important decisions on how to manage its irregular migrant population. However, the terrible conditions and regular violations of human rights that irregular migrants in Morocco are subject to lead one to ponder the role that international relations has and the extent to which human rights is a consideration in the policymaking of irregular migration. Applied to the three primary theories of international relations, liberalism, …

Jabaaru Immigré Ak Goor Jaarin: Migration, Marriage, And Emigrants’ Wives In Senegal, Sophia Patterson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research studies the community of women in Senegal whose husbands migrate to other countries for work. I examine how migration has impacted their marriages and their understanding of their roles as wives. I aim to answer the following question: How does migration affect women’s relationships with their husbands, their roles and responsibilities as wives, and their standing in society? To answer this question, I interviewed six women whose husbands work abroad. Before interviewing these women, I will arrange an initial conversation so we can get to know one another. This pre-interview also will allow me to determine other potential …

A Displaced People: Documenting The History And Displacement Of The Batwa Tribe In Bundibugyo District, Uganda., Marcos S. Turk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Batwa in Bundibugyo are an indigenous minority group that originated in the forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, various displacement factors have taken effect that have forced them out of the forest. Currently they live in Bundibugyo District, Uganda. This study aimed at identifying those displacement factors while also investigating Batwa history and culture as they are a relatively undocumented group. The Batwa have various traditions they established while in the forest, such as unique methods for hunting forest animals. Because Uganda forced them out of the forest, many of their cultural practices no longer occur. …

Narrativas De La Autoconstrucción: Posicionalidades E Identidades En Migrantes Venezolanos En Quito, Ecuador, Vicente Bickel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this project is to explore the identities of the Venezuelan population in Quito, Ecuador. The country itself has received more than a million people from Venezuela, some who have continued their journey and around 500,000 who have stayed in Ecuador. Most migrants left to the unstable political situation in Venezuela which reached its breaking point around 2015, the year in which this population began to enter Ecuador en masse. The central question of this study is: "What is the self-constructed identity of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the city of Quito, Ecuador and how has their migratory …

La Autenticidad Y El Yo: Un Análisis Sobre La Experiencia Urbana De Las Mujeres Indígenas En Ecuador, Madison L. Mcclellan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As research on the urban indigenous experience continues to expand, considerations of how indigenous populations understand, express and introspect upon their being indigenous in the city still proves an underexplored topic. The generalizing notion that indigenous persons are staticーin temporal, migratory and identity termsーcategorically conflicts with the growing trends of rural to urban migration patterns. Even more, deep-rooted indigenous-rural associations engender identity disorientations among indigenous women living in the city. The city becomes a space of self-confrontation and re-construction as indigenous women encounter questions of authenticity and shame.

Based in literature on identity, performance, authenticity and shame, this research considers …

Covid 19 In U.S. Migrant Detention Centers: The Call For Freedom In The Face Of A Global Pandemic, Salma Rojas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research paper investigates the responses of the U.S. immigration detention system to the COVID 19 pandemic and determines the capacity of the detention centers to keep detained individuals alive and healthy. As I analyze their capacities, I look to past detention center outbreaks, updated public health resources, reports on ICE facility conditions and the testimonies of migrant people who were detained during the COVID 19 crisis. The urgency of the COVID 19 pandemic is why I dedicate part of my paper to what needs to be done to prevent the situation from worsening. In drawing from these various sources, …

United Or Divided? The Politics Of Euro-Mediterranean Regional Identity And Migration Governance, Sarah Hall

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Migration management has become one of the foremost global governance challenges facing states today, as the number of people seeking to move across borders continues to rise exponentially. As a result, states have begun to band together into regions to collectively manage the flow of refugees and migrants into their territories. Given that these regions are grounded in the articulation of a common identity among member states, the overall trend of regionalism as it pertains to migration governance represents an interesting point of entry from which to analyze three intersecting dynamics: migration management, regional cooperation among states, and identity politics. …

¿Buscando Estabilidad Y Encontrando Crisis? Jóvenes Venezolanos En El Estallido Social Chileno, Carmen Rio Vescia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Chile has long been recognized in Latin America as an island of political and economic stability, but in October of 2019, a student-led mass evasion of the Santiago metro sparked what has since been coined the ‘estallido social,’ or ‘social explosion.’ Protestors across the country representing a wide range of social movements are demanding myriad reforms to what they deem a broken neoliberal system rooted in policies created during Pinochet’s dictatorship. Current president Sebastián Piñera’s government first responded by declaring a state of emergency. The state leveraged the power of a militarized police force (los Carabineros de Chile) to quell …

La Importancia De Los Espacios: Conociendo Los Espacios En Línea Creado Por Los Haitianos Y Organizaciones Haitianas En Chile, Juan Avilez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The state of Haitian migrants in Chile has often been studied through a lens of understanding the reasons for migratory flows and their effects on labor markets within the context of the Chilean state. Notable studies such as that of Pedemonte in 2015 studying the matrixes of exclusion of Haitian migrants in Chilean culture and that of Tijoux in 2015 studying the effects of racism and a neoliberal system on migrants, have adopted to explore the adoption of Haitian migrants to Chilean culture and detail the challenges and ways of community building that the Haitian population in Chile has adapted. …

Shifting Landscapes: The Effects Of Male Out-Migration On Food Security And Food Sovereignty In Rural Nepal, Emma Brown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Rural Nepal is experiencing rapid demographic changes, significantly impacting the socioeconomic and agricultural landscape of these areas. Growing percentages of the male population are migrating out of the country in search of better livelihood opportunities. This is largely a result of poor development processes and governmental policies that have failed to create adequate domestic livelihood opportunities and incentives to work in agriculture, as well as changing ideas on what it means to be successful, spurred by globalization. Further, dominant neoliberal ideology and the commercialization of agriculture is decreasing the profitability of agriculture, making migration a lucrative option. Due to out-migration, …

Morocco’S Leadership: Assessing The Relationship Between The State And Non-Governmental Organizations Working On Migration Affairs, Adriana Nadyieli González Ortiz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The history of Moroccan Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) is almost as long as the country’s history with migration. After Morocco's record as a sending country, its unique location attracted an increasing flow of migrants from the rest of Africa to transit the territory in hopes of crossing over to Europe. More recently, tighter border securitization has resulted in notable numbers of migrants permanently settling in Morocco. Significant changes in migration policy have both prompted and resulted from this progression. And simultaneously, national NGOs have strengthened their role as protagonist advocates for migrants’ rights as well as foremost providers of target-diverse support …

La Participación Y Representación De Las Mujeres Afrodescendientes En Los Movimientos De Ni Una Menos Y La Marea Verde En El Buenos Aires Actual, Olivia S. Sabini-Leite

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The myth that "there are no blacks in Argentina" or that "we do not have an afrodescendant population" remains prevalent in present-day Argentina since the beginning of state nationalization. However, immigrants and youth have sparked a movement geared at the recuperation of afrodescendancy among afroargentines. From this influence and the 31st National Women's Encounter, a strong wave of Afro-descendant women has grown, promoting the visibility, recognition and constant presence of the afrodescendant population.

During the same years, Ni Una Menos (Not One Less Girl) that responds to gender violence and Marea Verde (Green Tide) that responds to the struggle for …

The Middle Ground: A Comparative Study On Mexico And Morocco As Transit And Forthcoming Host Nations, Christina Sarai Roca

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Migration has always existed but has increased with globalization as societies are becoming more interconnected through different mediums, surging the larger scale of movement between borders and the increasing inequalities in wealth between nations. As transit countries, Mexico and Morocco function as nations seen receiving migrants in transit to their countries of destinations. Central American migrants and migrants from the South-of-the-Sahara are two prominent migrant populations in Mexico and Morocco for many years, but due to the increased political discourse, legislation, and increased enforcement at these border regions, these migrants find themselves remaining for extended periods or even settling permanently …

Not-So-Decriminalized: Consequences Of Intersectional Identity For Migrant Sex Workers In Switzerland, Teagan Langseth-Depaolis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sex work in Switzerland, which was decriminalized long ago, has been regarded as one of the most liberal systems of sex work in the world. However, this reputation is contested when factoring in the interaction between immigration and sex work policies. Migrant sex workers in Switzerland are put at a precarious intersection of decriminalized sex industry and restrictive migration policy and attitudes, and are not addressed or protected from violations of the law or violations of their human rights. Using databases containing Swiss legislation, I will critically examine the intersectional effects of migration policy and the treatment of migrants on …

La Comida, La Identidad Y La Migración: Un Caso De Estudio De Inmigrantes Femeninas Y Su Relación Con La Comida, Susanna Morales

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta corta investigación se enfoca en cómo la comida, la migración y la identidad se entrecruzan dentro de la vidas de las mujeres involucradas en el Sindicato de las Trabajadoras del Hogar de la ciudad de Cochabamba. La mayoría de ellas han migrado del campo a Cochabamba en búsqueda de un trabajo. El enfoque está en cómo ellas recuerdan sus pueblos y cómo su identidad se expresa a través de la comida. Mi pregunta de investigación es la siguiente: ¿Cómo se entrecruza la comida, la migración e identidad en la vida de una inmigrante femenina? Respondo a estas preguntas usando …

Supplying Slaves: The Disguise Of Greener Pastures: An Exploratory Study Of Human Trafficking In Uganda, Kyla Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to evaluate labor migration in Uganda with a specific focus on the role labor recruitment agencies play in transporting people and how certain circumstances such as lack of knowledge of safe migration can leave people vulnerable to human trafficking. Labor externalization is beneficial specifically for developing countries because it provides jobs for the robust and available labor in these countries. Nonetheless, when reports appear that young girls are stranded abroad in the middle east after being taken there for work, labor recruitment agencies are first to receive the blame. Although Uganda issued a ban …

Refuge In A Place Without Refugees, Jane Roarty

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The question of who should be given legal status as a refugee has consistently been veiled in discussions of ‘practicality,’ political motives, and inaction. Centered in these discussions tend to be state officials, international organization officials, and academics. More importantly, typically excluded from this assembly of decision makers and the thinkers are those actually and personally affected by the specifics of the term. In Jordan, this discussion is particularly interesting because the government does not legally recognize refugees since the United Nations refused to recognize Palestinians under the 1951 Convention definition. This paper aims to unpack the term refugee: both …

Tracing Race Through The Narrative Of A Oaxacan Ex-Bracero, Carlina Green

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

On March 21st, 2019, I was at a birthday lunch for my host mother at her parents’ house in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, where I am currently studying abroad. Her father began to ask me about the normal meal times in the United States, and shared that he had witnessed this cultural difference firsthand during his time as a migrant worker in the United States. I asked him more questions and learned that he had first gone to Chesterfield, Missouri as a participant in the bracero program in 1953 and later to Los Angeles as an undocumented migrant in the …

La Vulneración De Los Derechos E Invisibilización Sobre Lxs Migrantes Senegaleses En Caba / The Violation Of Human Rights And The Invisibilization Of Senegalese Immigrants In The Autonomous City Of Buenos Aires, Madeline Doane

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Antes de que Argentina fuera una estado-nación oficial, ha habido una invisibilización de lxs afro-descendientes y afro-argentinxs que continúa hoy bajo la negación de la existencia y los derechos de lxs inmigrantes senegaleses. Desde la década de 1990, ha habido una progresiva afluencia de migrantes senegaleses, por lo general de varones jóvenes, a Buenos Aires, Argentina, con el sueño de prosperidad económica para compartir con sus familias en Senegal. A su llegada, se enfrentan a varias barreras lingüísticas y culturales para adaptarse al estilo de vida argentino. Debido a las leyes de inmigración actuales, no son capaces de obtener trabajos …

The Understandings And Human Cost Of ‘Prevention Through Deterrence,’ As Seen Amongst Advocates In The United States And Mexico, Margaret Edwards

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the last two years of President Donald Trump and his administration, immigration and border regulations between the United States (US) and Mexico has become one of the most decisive and hottest political issues. This political struggle has brought into question US border practices and strategies such as physical barriers, denial of entry, detention, and, most importantly, how the US should respond to immigration. In reality, though, this question has existed since immigration along the US-Mexico border began.

In this paper, I examine a 1994 US Border Strategy, first introduced under President Bill Clinton, called ‘Prevention Through Deterrence.’ This border …

Educator Perspectives On Suggested Changes To The Jordanian Education System As A Result Of The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Sara Sydney Caplan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research investigates the question: How do teachers believe the Jordanian education system should change in order to best meet the needs of all students given the recent influx of Syrian refugees? The researcher interviewed seven teachers in Amman and Madaba, Jordan to gather qualitative data on their perspectives on the current Jordanian education system. Educators interviewed represented a vary of different school populations, grade levels, environments, resources and subject areas. Teachers interviewed and material culture demonstrated that the current education system is in need of multifaceted reform. The primary issue raised by many interviewees is enhanced discrimination and inequitable …

From Lahure Legacies To Moving Peoples: A Study Of Opportunity And Mobility In The Annapurna Hills, Peter Jacobson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the interplay between the politics of mobility and changing notions of opportunity in the face growing trends of tourism in the southern Annarpurna Conservation Area (ACA) of Nepal. Research was conducted in three villages that have been the sites of rapid change in recent years, both due to the widespread adoption of local trekking economies, and to demographic change engendered by growing trends of outmigration. By adopting a political ecological framework, which challenges common apolitical explanations of exclusion, inaccessibility and unequal distribution of costs and benefits with particular regard to environmental challenges, this paper jointly applies what …

Who And What Is Amazigh? Self-Assertion, Erasure, And Standardization, Alexis Colon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research focuses on the identity of the indigenous peoples of Morocco, or the Amazigh. While this culture has endured different iterations of colonization, self-assertion and activism in favor of preserving culture and improving conditions for Amazigh can often be viewed as controversial to the elites of Morocco. This controversy, however, does not stop Moroccans from proclaiming their Amazigh background or portraying their culture. This paper aims to describe qualitative data taken from numerous interviews on the subject of self-identification of Amazigh and different hopes and expectations for the continuation of the language and culture of Amazigh among common peoples.

The Draw Of Revolution: Returning To Tunisia, Stephen Garrett

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Having left Tunisia for different reasons, some expatriate Tunisians chose to leave their old lives behind and return to their home country when Tunisia began its democratic transition in 2011. This report focuses on the experiences and perspectives of three returning Tunisians. Understanding these individuals’ views provides a new framework for understanding the path that Tunisia’s democratic transition has taken over the past seven years. Comparing their perspectives on themes relating to their shared experiences reveals differences and similarities. Interviewees largely differ with regards to their lives before the revolution, their previous political activity, the details of their return, their …

Medicina Tradicional Y La Transmisión De Conocimiento Ancestral En La Comunidad Afroboliviana De Tocaña / Traditional Medicine And The Transmission Of Ancestral Knowledge In The Afro-Bolivian Community Of Tocaña, Marvin Bynoe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La población afroboliviana se ha vuelto recientemente visible y políticamente influyente en la sociedad boliviana. El gobierno de Evo Morales ha reconocido al pueblo afroboliviano como un pueblo originario, implementando una ley contra la discriminación y designando la saya como propiedad cultural afroboliviana. Además, los afrodescendientes están saliendo de Los Yungas y migrando a las ciudades en busca de oportunidades; sin embargo, el área todavía tiene un significado ancestral. El documental intentará captar y preservar el conocimiento que tienen de las plantas y explorar cómo han cambiado las relaciones de transmisión de conocimiento. Con el movimiento y la evolución de …