Social Networks, Place Attachments and Mexican Urban Migration

Abstract

By using qualitative data and a representative survey of Valle de Chalco-Solidaridad, a municipality on the periphery of Mexico City, this article provides fresh information on urban migration to the U.S. and the role of social networks in urban settings. The article critically reviews previous theoretical assumptions about the nature of Mexican migration regarding the role of social networks in organizing migration flows that were largely based on rural-origin datasets and case studies. The article demonstrates that variations on the socio-demographic profile of the would-be emigrants of the US are found depending on the household´s social networks. In other words, not everyone is susceptible to emigration, despite structural adjustments in the economy and a general landscape of relative privation. Our data suggests that urban females may organize their own autonomous social networks, the higher educated in cities value their future in Mexico (and only try the adventure further north when they have the support of social networks), and the irrelevance of territorial attachments for understanding urban migration from Mexico.