My ongoing interests focus on the theme of modern-day migration and urbanization in Latin America. Using my previous research as a springboard, I will explore how cultures a respond to the processes of migration and urbanization in Andean and other Latin American countries due to the great regional changes that have occurred through the past century. My interests stem from observing migrants in a variety of rapidly growing cities in the western hemisphere, especially in Bolivia and neighboring countries. Certainly these processes affect Texas and other border states, but are also occurring in Mexico, Brazil, Perú, Argentina and Chile, as their economies have recently flourished, attracting migrants from near-by countries. In light of the national and transnational movements, I wish to explore how people adapt and redefine themselves in a new urban environment. Using the tools of ethnography and photography I will investigate the role migration plays in the lives of the people throughout the Americas, focusing on living conditions, health care and employment, as well as the more abstract issues of community, identity and nationalism. I see this project as an ideal opportunity for student participation and training in anthropological methods, data analysis and publication.

Conducting this research requires three phases of inquiry to gain a larger perspective on how migration and urbanization affect culture in Latin America: background, data collection and analysis. A substantial and extensive background investigation is necessary providing the history of specific cities in Latin America, exploring the factors affecting the populations and economies of the region over the past quarter century. (e.g. their ethnography, population growth, political and geographical circumstances, etc.) Selected cities such as Buenos Aires, Lima, São Paulo, Mexico City and Santiago represent urban regions that have experienced greatest growth, attracting indigenous and other people from their hinterlands as well as across national boundaries. Houston, Miami, and Los Angeles also support large populations of Latin American migrants, who represent a comparison to those south of the US border. Phase two of this research actuates the travel to the cities to collect ethnographic data (interviews, video and photographs) from urban migrants and better understand their urban environment. During the analysis phase I will edit the images and video and compile the data to produce an interactive collection illustrating how people throughout the hemisphere have adapted due to the processes of migration and urbanization. At each level of this project I anticipate student involvement and leadership.

The methods I employ include participant observation, informal and formal interviews with migrants (including life histories), photography and video, and archival research. These methods allow me to understand how migrants live and operate in the city on a daily basis and form their communities. Placing myself in the migrants’ urban context, I will live with them, talk with them and listen to their comments about migrating to the city and making ends meet. I will encourage those who are interested in their life stories to do so, as their discourse will be most revealing as to the obstacles and catalysts which affects their urban translocation.

Photography provides a tool through which to give to the people and also document their lives. In previous fieldwork I have made images of residents and their families at special occasions or events and supplied copies for the participants. This reciprocity allows me to meet people and give them something important to them. I also like to give people cameras and ask them to photograph those things that are important in their lives. By understanding what is important to migrants and how people form groups and associate with one another in the city, I learn how they construct their communities and develop relationships in the urban milieu. Family events such as weddings or baptisms, soccer games or political rallies each represent different forms in which community may be shaped by migrants. Capturing images of residents living their lives will further illustrate the context in which they exist and subsist and improve our understanding of how migrants cope with migrating and becoming urban dwellers. By comparing circumstances across several Latin American countries, including cities in the US, I will find similarities and differences; however, noting how community is created and maintained will be the common denominator.

This ambitious project will require time for archival and bibliographic research as well as fieldwork. Over the next three years I propose to teach courses during the school year and compile literature concerned with ethnographic accounts of urbanization and migration in Latin America. At this time I will also develop my contact base and logistical support in the various countries. During the summer months I will travel to the selected cities to conduct ethnographic research with migrant families in their neighborhoods and participate in reciprocal photography.

There will be multiple results of this investigation, both in the form of professional and student papers, exhibits and multimedia presentations. Each phase will present the opportunity to write articles for professional journals such as Ethnology, American Ethnologist, Current Anthropology and Urban Anthropology. Ultimately I will develop an interactive, web-based computer program that will help illustrate to students the ramifications of urbanization, migration, poverty and development in the Americas. Ideally these papers, photographic exhibits and web pages will be collaborative between students and myself, as this macro level project is too much for one person alone, and an excellent opportunity for students to learn about anthropology and create their own means for expressing their ideas concerning issues in Latin America.

Proposals for the funding for this project will be sent to professional institutions such The National Science Foundation, The National Geographic Society, The Smithsonian Institution, as well as corporations such as Kodak, Fuji USA, Nikon, Canon and private foundations.