The End of Migration from Atotonilco El Bajo to Milwaukee: Breakdown of a Transnational Labor Market (original) (raw)

This research analyzes the rapid decline in Mexico-U.S. migration by investigating the argument that educational and economic changes in Mexico are significant contributing factors. Using a transnational labor market ethnography from Milwaukee, U.S. and Atotonilco El Bajo, Mexico, this paper reveals that increasing educational attainment and a diversifying labor market in Atotonilco El Bajo are indeed contributing to migration decline. However, increasing educational levels in Atotonilco do not appear to be driven by real economic opportunity in the Mexican economy; rather, a host of national and transnational factors are contributing to cumulative changes in the local culture of educational attainment.