Intimate migrations : gender, family, and illegality among transnational Mexicans /

Anthropologist Boehm's narrative is a multidisciplinary examination of mixed-status families living between the US and Mexico. She weaves oral narratives with analyses of public policy and participant observation to explore how everyday encounters with the state in binational or transnational families alter peoples' intimate private lives, particularly in regard to gender and age relations. Especially noteworthy is her explanation of how the focus of US immigration policies and actions on the status of individuals instead of family units creates ripples that touch others in a family and community, shaping life decisions. Boehm (Univ. of Nevada, Reno) sees the result as migrant flows that are masculinized and male controlled, creating communities of men on the US side of the border and leaving largely female patrilocal households in Mexico. Within this context, traditional notions of gendered work are contested and redefined, as are notions of parenting and loyalty, such as distinguishing between sexual infidelity and economic or monetary infidelity. Another strength of the book is its reexamination of the characteristics traditionally assigned to the idea of immigration-descended generations to one focused on transnational generations, parallel to that of the concept of transnational parenting. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. S. M. Green California State University--Chico