La migración de retorno: los jornaleros tamaulipecos

Resumen

According to the new economy of labour migration, return migration is a result of increased privation and decreased satisfaction in the receiving society. In other words, an immigrant will return to his country of origin in two situations: when in the new society others have more goods than he and/or when he has fewer goods than before. This analysis offers a counterbalance to the approach proposed by neoclassical economics, which considers migration as a unidirectional process, whereby return symbolizes failure. This article argues that rural workers from Tamaulipas employed in U.S. farming return to their communities because in the host country their position within the social hierarchy is lower than in their place of origin, and because in the United States they have less access to goods since these are more expensive there.