David Piacenti - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by David Piacenti

© 2014 Piacenti, Rivas, and Garrett. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms o... more © 2014 Piacenti, Rivas, and Garrett. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative

Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, 2009

One of two areas of concern in the ongoing study of immigration theory from Mexico to the United ... more One of two areas of concern in the ongoing study of immigration theory from Mexico to the United States is the level of analysis in which to operate. To this end, various analyses at the macro-, meso-, and micro-sociological levels of theory have been applied in order to understand the full range of factors that underlie immigration. The second area of concern is completeness of coverage and literature gaps. That is to say, due to the difficulty in generalizing any one ethnography or data analysis to every sending region or town in Mexico, we must always demand coverage of new regions and towns. This, in turn, will provide the broadest range of data possible in order to promote the appropriate changes in the structure of immigration policy. This project contributes to these areas of concern in at least two ways. First, this sample of more than fifty ethnographic interviews emerges from the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatan. Yucatan represents a newer sending region than its more...

This study seeks to understand: 1) motivations for leaving and, if applicable, returning to Madri... more This study seeks to understand: 1) motivations for leaving and, if applicable, returning to Madrina (pseudonym) Yucatan, Mexico from Kalamazoo, Michigan and/or San Francisco, California; 2) how social conditions in San Francisco compare to Kalamazoo and how this might affect ethnic identity; 3) the impact of immigration on the immigrant's ethnic identity; 4) immigrant perception of change in ethnic identity of family and Madrina. The study employs 52 semi-structured interviews of returned and non-returned Yucatec-Mayan immigrants, as well as an ethnographic description of Kalamazoo, San Francisco, and Madrina. Findings suggest that 1) Yucatec-Mayan immigrants use a family-centered, value-rational decision making process in leaving and returning to Madrina; 2) the ethnic identity of Yucatec-Mayans is still resistant to "Mexicanizing," and "transnationalizing," as 80% of the sample still claim "Yucatec-Mayan" as their ethnic identity; 3) immigrants who return from racialized, urban environments return with "U.S. cultural remittances" which are urbanizing the town. Madrina's immigrants and citizenry attempt to incorporate the perceived positives of immigration into Yucatec-Mayan lifeways, while discouraging unfavorably viewed behaviors from the U.S.; 4) the incorporation of outside lifeways into "being Yucatec-Mayan" operates to temporarily maintain local, traditional lifeways and rituals; 5) San Francisco reflects a more intensely racialized, segregated environment, which is represented by the returned cholo, whose "urban gangbanger" mentality confronts the traditional, rural ethnic identity. San Francisco also affects the overall perception of immigration and desire for permanent U.S. residence. Of the San Francisco cohort, 42% say immigration is "positive overall." Conversely, 62% of the Kalamazoo cohort says that immigration is "positive overall." Only 29% of the San Francisco cohort desire permanent residence in the U.S. while 54% of the Kalamazoo cohort desire permanent U.S. residence. Therefore, the suburban context of Kalamazoo may increase desire for permanent U.S residence. This is profound, as permanent U.S residence would indicate a qualitatively stronger change in ethnic identity.

Contemporary Justice Review

International Journal of Qualitative Methods

This theoretical article discusses the creative utility of Facebook as a new ethnographic tool in... more This theoretical article discusses the creative utility of Facebook as a new ethnographic tool in which to study transnational (im) migration. Facebook ethnography allows the (im) migration researcher to transcend the four structural dualities that constrain transnational ethnographic research: (a) geographic constraints, (b) travel funding constraints, (c) travel time constraints, and (d) the logistical constraints of entrée into new ethnographic contexts. Facebook ethnography also allows the qualitative researcher to temporarily transcend the ontological structuralist dualities of traditional research methods, producing a new poststructural epistemological and ontological methodology.

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, 2012

First-time Home Buyer Specialists, 2009

... Hondagneu-Sotelo states,“the men I interviewed reported that their primary incentive was not ... more ... Hondagneu-Sotelo states,“the men I interviewed reported that their primary incentive was not to seek money for their families in Mexico ... To return to the potential increase in frivolous consumption from immigration, Juan Rodríguez de la Gala, Vanessa Molina, and Daisy García ...