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The World Bank notes that officially recorded remittances reached $689 billion in 2018, including $529 billion to low‐ and middle‐income countries. While these figures are mind‐boggling and potentially render the act of migration as a clear decision, they do not communicate the social challenges that result for movers and nonmovers around migration and remitting. Our article is organized to better understand the complexities that surround remittances and the act of remitting. Based on research in Mexico and Tajikistan, we argue that while remittances are critical to household successes and can create a pathway to growth and economic success, they can also destabilize and undermine local practices as movers and nonmovers rethink life; engage in new kinds of labor; and reconsider their roles, responsibilities, and more. In the second part of our article, we argue that the dynamic effects of remittances are minimized and ignored, while their role in driving economic development is celebrated. Understanding remittance practices demands that we rethink academic boundaries and use ethnographic work to reconsider the centrality that development and economic growth often hold in our evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is a challenge for indigenous communities in Mexico. Social inequalities and limited access to services combine with historical patterns of discrimination to amplify its negative impacts. Nevertheless, there are important ways in which indigenous communities organise and respond. Our paper, organised in three parts, summarises these challenges as well as the response. In the first section, we introduce indigenous Oaxaca and the challenges facing indigenous communities. In the second section, we note the ways in which indigenous communities rely on their traditions in response to the pandemic and limitations they face. In the third and concluding section, we argue that the social inequalities that define indigenous life in Oaxaca must be acknowledged in order to create an effective public health response to COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary study of Mexican migration typically highlights international, cross-border, U.S.- bound movement. The rapid increase in migration to the United States in the 1980s and 1990s and its continued importance to movers and nonmovers as well as sending and destination communities is not in doubt, yet, the role of internal mobility-movement that takes migrants from their hometowns and communities to destinations within their country of origin-is not well documented. Internal migration in Mexico has a long history, follows unique pathways and motivations, and continues to be important in the present. Building on research in the southern state of Oaxaca we explore this overlooked topic and focus on three themes: (1) the history of internal migration for Oaxacan movers; (2) decision making for movers and nonmovers; and (3) the role that contemporary internal migration continues to play in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the popularity of Chapulines as food of indigenous and peasant communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. It is noted that Chapulines are prepared for consumption starting the rainy season in late spring through early winter. Chapulines taste sweet because they have been eating alfalfa. They are not only important in the Oaxacan daily diet, but also play a role in small-scale marketing, restaurants, and exports.

In this paper, we examine the gendered nature of international and internal migration that originates in the central valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. Our goals are to define migration patterns and outcomes for Oaxacan women from the central valleys region and note the differences that mark migrant men and women. We use ethnographic data from anthropological research in 12 of Oaxaca's central valley communities to argue that local concepts of what defines correct behaviour (for both men and women) are critical to the outcomes and the differences that exist in the practices of migrant men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strikes, violence and economic crisis characterized life in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico from the spring through late fall of 2006. Demonstrations began around the efforts of striking teachers and grew throughout the summer to include many groups critical of the state's governor. The confrontations led to blockades, violence and several acts of murder along with the cancellation of important events that had negative implications for the city's tourism economy. Nevertheless, little has been said about the rural response to these events. In this paper I present preliminary results interviews in three rural villages to better understand the impacts of political and economic unrest on rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the reason why remittances should not be blamed for rural underdevelopment in Mexico. Impact of migration between Mexico and the United States and remittance outcomes on rural economic development; Optimism of structuralists about opportunities in Mexico in the absence of emigration; Optimism of functionalists about the productivity of investment from remittances; Economic inequalities; Social impacts and processes.

This article reviews a systematic approach to the study of transnational migration in the central valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. The authors argue that the investigation of transnational migration should be more than an exercise in labeling outcomes. They show that it is possible to model and score transnational outcomes for individual migrants and migrant households and understand variations in sending practices of local communities. They illustrate this point using data from the investigation of eleven communities in Oaxaca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that investigated socioeconomic inequalities that characterize non-migrant households in the central valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Discussion on the migration of community members from the Central Valleys to the U.S.; Analysis of the non-migrants of communities in the Central Valleys; Reasons behind the decision of some households not to migrate.

Background: Immigration is a disruptive event with multiple implications for health. Stressors, including family separation, acculturation, job insecurity, restricted mobility, sojourns, dangerous border crossings, stigmatization, and marginalization, shape immigrant health in ways we are only beginning to untangle. Around the world, there are over 200 million international migrants. In 2015, there were 43.2 million immigrants living in the US, 26.8% of whom were born in Mexico. Investigating how stress affects health among migrants facilitates better understanding of their experiences., Methods: Here, we review existing research on stress and how allostatic load varies among migrants with specific attention to Mexican migrants in the US. Next, we explore research incorporating biomarkers of allostasis and narratives of migration and settlement to examine disease risks of Mexican migrants residing in Columbus, Ohio. This mixed-methods approach allowed us to examine how social stressors may influence self-reports of health differentially from associations with assessed discrimination and physiological biomarkers of health., Results: These data sources are not significantly associated. Neither narratives nor self-reports of health provide significant proxies for participants' physiological health., Conclusions: We propose, the pairing of objectively assessed health profiles with narratives of migration better illustrate risks migrants face, while allowing us to discern pathways through which future health challenges may arise. Immigration and acculturation to a new nation are biologically and culturally embedded processes, as are stress and allostatic responses. To understand how the former covary with the latter requires a mixed-methods bioethnographic approach. Differences across multiple social and physiological systems, affect individual health over time. We propose incorporating physiological biomarkers and allostatic load with migrants' narratives of their migration to unravel complex relationships between acculturation and health.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection caused by protozoa of the Leishmania genus that presents as asymptomatic pink papules that may ulcerate. There are several species of Leishmania found in 98 endemic countries and whereas all are associated with cutaneous disease, only specific species can cause mucocutaneous or visceral disease. Although the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis can be confirmed with Giemsa staining of a biopsy or "touch prep" specimen, only speciation at specialized centers such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) can determine the risk of mucocutaneous or visceral disease. Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis is varied and depends on the extent of cutaneous disease and the risk of mucocutaneous or visceral disease.