Abstract

MAIER, Elizabeth. Territorial transits and identity of indigenous migrant women. Pap. poblac [online]. 2006, vol.12, n.47, pp.201-225. ISSN 2448-7147.

In this article I analyze the contradictory effects that new work conditions and lifestyles shaped by migration have had on the renegotiation of gender relations and gender identity, among indigenous, women immigrants to Baja California from Mexico's poorer, southern states. Indigenous women's transit from family-centered labor, and total male dependence, to the public space of autonomous, salaried work shifts, growing family representation with governmental programs and institutions, climbing percentages of female-headed households, and progressive participation en all forms of family and community decision-making, has informed a complex process of personal transformation. On the one hand, there is a growing awareness of "the right to have rights", while on the other, the intense demands of neoliberal socioeconomic conditions leave little opportunity to fully exercise these rights. The article examines the influence of new labor conditions and lifestyles on gender relations, and processes of subjectivization and citizenship of indigenous female immigrants.

Keywords : migration; feminine migration; indigenous women; gender; subjetivization; citizenship; Baja California; Mexico.