Abstract

VARGAS EVARISTO, Susana. Young Migrants and Narratives of Belonging: Modes of Incorporation beyond Borders. Frontera norte [online]. 2017, vol.29, n.58, pp.47-70. ISSN 2594-0260.  https://doi.org/10.17428/rfn.v29i58.470.

This article proposes the category of narrative constellation of belonging understood as a mode of incorporation, created based on the narrative connection produced by the children of farm workers settled in San Quintin Valley, Baja California, and Madera-Fresno, California. We propose a simultaneity of narratives of belonging among Mixtec, Zapotecan, and Triqui youth outside Mexico as the product of a common ethnic origin articulated against the backdrop of the market for agricultural labor, as a context of domination. We employ a qualitative methodology based on the compilation of fifty biographical narratives obtained from young people living on both sides of the border. The findings show the dilemma between deep (or ethnic) belonging and acquired (non-ethnic) belongings as a mechanism of incorporation in the receiving context.

Keywords : belonging; borders; modes of incorporation; biographical narrative; young people.