Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until June 7, 2012. Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

This research uses Fremont, Nebraska, and City Ordinance 5165, passed in June of 2010, as a case study to explore the effects on migrant political activity of local legislation that prevents undocumented migrants from renting homes and acquiring jobs, and also investigates the nature of migrant participation in opposing such measures. Fremont is one of many U.S. cities that have passed ordinances targeting undocumented migrants, and while continuous legal battles have delayed these laws from going into effect, they reflect a growing attempt to undertake immigration enforcement at a local level. Interviews with Fremont community members suggest the effects of the passage of Ordinance 5165 and surrounding debate are primarily negative, including community division, increased racism, and a challenged sense of safety and belonging for many residents. However, the legislation has also had some positive influence, such as motivating higher levels of civic engagement among migrants and Latinos, and spurring mobilization efforts that have served as points of solidarity and empowerment for these same groups. Furthermore, because places are formed by way of their relations to other places, fieldwork was also conducted in Chichihualco, Guerrero, Mexico one of the largest sending communities to Fremont. These complementary findings exposed how global realities, such as economic need and transnational social ties, shaped happenings in Fremont; and interviews with return migrants and migrants' family members in Chichihualco suggest that it is unlikely the law will deter migration to the city nor persuade migrants to relocate or return to their countries of origin. The Fremont case study provides insight concerning the nationwide trend of local immigration enforcement, highlighting the need for continued investigation of the ways in which community members are organizing against such policy measures, and the observed and potential effects for various actors at different scales. This sort of legislation is being passed with greater frequency in the U.S., and this research argues that its effects have been overwhelmingly negative, and that such laws represent a missed opportunity to instead integrate growing migrant populations into city planning and development processes that could be beneficial for entire communities. / text

En los anos recientes se ha visto un incremento de documentales dentro de la produccion cultural hispana, reflejando vi­as alternativas de representar el entorno. Pero en contraste a la entusiasta produccion filmica, no se han hecho estudios concentrados sobre documentales, y menos de aquellos que tratan cuestiones de movilizaciones poblacionales a modo de estudio de espacios fi­sicos e imaginarios, producidos por mujeres. Esta tesis pretende otorgar la merecida atencion academica a los documentales relacionados al mundo hispano y con tematica de la frontera, producidos por mujeres, observando la sinergi­a que genera el enlace de elementos convencionalmente considerados perifericos como el genero documental, el genero femenino, y el espacio liminar de la frontera, tanto geopolítica como sociocultural. Para ello se exploran los rasgos formales y tematicos de seis documentales de mujeres sobre la frontera -tanto en su sentido simbolico como concreto. Tres de ellos surgen de la frontera geopoli­tica de EEUU y Mexico, y la otra mitad se enfoca en la representacion de las fronteras virtuales o socioculturales que plasman la Espana en la era de la globalizacion: Que suene la calle (2005) de Itzel Marti­nez, Cowboy del amor (2005) de Michele Ohayon y Maquilapolis (2006) de Vicky Funary y Sergio de la Torre, Extranjeras (2003) de Helena Taberna, El tren de la memoria (2005) de Marta Arribas y Ana Perez y Aguaviva (2006) de Adriadna Pujol. El analisis parte de la idea de conjugar la interseccion de tres li­neas divisorias o fronteras: la li­nea que divide el genero documental de otros generos cinematograficos, la li­nea que divide el genero femenino del genero masculino (u otros), y la linea que divide una cultura de otra -o un pai­s- de otro. El encuentro de estos tres elementos constituye un centro fructi­fero de ideas alternativas de lo marginal, y se establece como espacio legi­timo de rearticulacion de poli­ticas de representacion. Las diferentes perspectivas sobre las dinamicas socioculturales que surgen de la (re)consideracion de los procesos de produccion y circulacion de estos textos culturales aportara a generar nuevos abordamientos de elaboracion y usos de poli­ticas identitarias.

Migrants' experiences in space open a window to better understand how global dynamics of capital play out culturally, and within the local. Departing from the conviction that spatiality is a key component in asserting human rights (Lefebvre 1991; Mitchell 2003; Massey 2000; Marston 2000), how do hegemonic definitions of citizenship and immigrant in Spain and Ecuador affect migrants' perception and experiences of, as well as responses to, Madrid's urban spaces? How do Ecuadorian migrants experience and (re)make the city locally through transnational practices? To answer these questions, I use a transdisciplinary approach to analyze the cultural expressions emanating from spaces in Madrid that hold special significance in Ecuadorian migrants' everyday lives.The objectives of this dissertation are: 1) to analyze how Ecuadorians' different levels participation in Madrid's urban spaces, and the municipality's response to these practices, dialogue with definitions of citizenship, and with migrants' place in Spain and Ecuador's configurations of nationhood; 2) to show the interrelation between the material realities of Ecuadorian migrants in Madrid, access to space, and cultural production (and consumption), focusing on the historical specificity of postcolonial relations between Spain and Ecuador; 3) to document how Ecuadorian migrants are actively engaged in the urban planning of Madrid and Quito, making both cities through local transnational practices (Michael Peter Smith 2001, 2002).Altogether, this work shows how migrants are active subjects in the urban initiatives of both Madrid and Quito. Their local experiences in Madrid challenge and participate in global agendas of what a `modern' city should be, and show how definitions of `public' spaces become a most valuable resource to affirm private interests over the global city. Addressing the entwinement between transnational processes and migrants' experiences of locality this work shows how urban processes manifest culturally on both sides of the Atlantic.

This thesis concerns identity constructions among rural migrant workers in Kentucky in relation to experiences and articulations of transnational spaces, networks, and identities. It was conducted through semi-structured interviews of migrant laborers on two rural Kentucky horse farms with 13 men. In this project, the men’s identities could be seen to have access to and utilize social, economic, cultural, and familial connections across national borders. These aspects of transnational identities were contrasted and compared to aspects of these men’s masculine identities to problematize popular representations of masculinities. This thesis shows how traditional notions of masculinities are questioned, reinforced, discarded, touted and ignored as these migrant laborers construct and navigate their identities.

No description available.

Conceptualizing the locality today in the global context means to be able to consider a level of denationalisation of the actor (of a locality) participating in a networked situation with actors from other localities. This thesis introduces a new conceptualization of the locality participating in a transnational network. The network, CEARENAD, involved six localities (Brazil, Chili, Costa-Rica, Senegal, Mauritius and Canada) who co-constructed contents for five years. This research is about presenting not a "mode d'emploi" about whether this particular network was successful or not. What truly motivated me, during and about this research, was to reflect on my observations of this network to build a new conceptualisation about the intertwinments of a locality and another space. This is what this thesis is about. "La sedimentation du passage" renders a rigorous description of the numerous processes which bring the locality to the front line. / This study shows the description (Latour: 1987, 1999) of the participative actions of the actors involved in the network. The sedimentation of the passage reveals the repercussions of the mediations between the localities. This theorization activates, in other ways, the denationalization of actors, and, adds to the cultural construct of the network as well as to the possibilities of the Politic (Sassen: 2006). / This is an example of a networked knowledge production while, at the same time, and this may be of most importance, it is also an example of how today's reading of the locality deepens the necessity of participative actions in the mediations and mediatizations (Darbellay: 2006) of materialities in the contemporary globalization. The sedimentation of the passage allows one to read what circulation(s) are actually chosen to be materialized in and for the locality.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2004. / Advisers: Modhumita Roy; Christina Sharpe. Submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-274). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of American Studies, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 7, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-273). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 352-367).