The present study approaches Third World urbanization through a critical analysis of the cultural adaptation process of rural migrants (CAP). Social scientists identify the CAP as a transitional situation in which people must learn to function simultaneously in different cultural systems, typically circumscribed into a dual categorization: 'the traditional' versus 'the modern'. Taking place between these two conditions, the CAP is influenced and constrained by socio-economic macrostructures and processes that define cultural change. This thesis explores rural migrants' CAP by analyzing the material culture of Chalco, a squatter settlement located in the outskirts of Mexico City. / Self-help transformations of migrant housing produce a unique phenomenon. House forms and the selection of building materials, for instance, are defined not only by spatial or functional needs, but also by social priorities for adaptation. Preconceived aspects of housing evolution such as comfort or the reproduction of rural life are not necessarily priorities for migrants. On the contrary, the informants in Chalco favor the use of distinctive material signs that may help them to create their identity as urbanites. Hence, it is essential to view rural migrant housing as a physical expression of both residents' attempts to adapt to the urban culture (i.e., to participate in social mobility) and of the reproduction of social inequalities resulting from the nature of urbanization and development processes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.27983 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Varela-Michel, Manuel. |
| Contributors | Fischler, Raphael (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Architecture (School of Architecture.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001617790, proquestno: MQ37250, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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