Transnational Peasants

Why do two groups from the same country pursue radically different economic strategies of transnational mobility? David Kyle examines the lives of people from four rural communities in two regions of the Andean highlands of Ecuador. Migrants from the southern province of Azuay shuttle back and forth to New York City, mostly as undocumented laborers. In contrast, an indigenous group of Quichua-speakers from the northern canton of Otavalo travel the world as handicraft merchants and musicians playing Andean music. In one village, Kyle found that Otavalans were migrating to 23 different countries and returning within a year. Transnational Peasants provides an intriguing historical and sociological exploration of a contemporary migration mystery.