Synopsis
In Undocumented Politics: Place, Gender, and the Pathways of Mexican Migrants, Abigail Leslie Andrews draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted over twenty-one months between 2009 and 2012 to examine how undocumented migrants from two indigenous Oaxacan villages navigate exclusion and assert political agency across the US-Mexico border. Focusing on communities from Partida and Retorno, the book traces their divergent trajectories: migrants from one village largely pursue a strategy of belonging in Los Angeles, embracing migration as a path to empowerment and inclusion despite legal barriers, while those from the other adopt a strategy of withdrawal in North County San Diego, rejecting the racism and hypocrisy they encounter and instead channeling efforts into transnational activism to demand change back home, including the “right not to migrate.”
Andrews highlights how local contexts—or “modes of control”—in both sending and receiving places profoundly shape these pathways, from historical inequalities and land dynamics in the hometowns to varying enforcement practices and community environments in California. Gender emerges as a central force, with migration and activism enabling women to challenge patriarchal structures, whether by gaining independence and voice in the United States or by leading protests that secure greater rights for women in their villages of origin. Through rich life-history interviews and cross-border comparison, the book reveals the everyday politics of marginalized groups, demonstrating that undocumented migrants are far from voiceless; instead, they creatively engage in struggles for rights and resources, remaking gender norms and community ties in the process. Ultimately, Andrews offers a nuanced portrait of how place-specific power relations and gendered experiences produce contrasting forms of political resistance amid shared conditions of illegality and economic restructuring.