From Cuenca to Queens : An Anthropological Story of Transnational Migration

xiii for a second opinion on Ecuador and on Susan for her unfailing sense of what rings true. I would also like to acknowledge Art Desjardins, who, along with Rich McMullen, graciously took on the task of creating a map for the book. The reviewers for the University of Texas Press gave me much to think about, and the book is greatly improved because of their careful reading. Many, many thanks to Theresa May, the editor-in-chief at the University of Texas Press, who never wavered in her support for this project. Western Michigan University has provided financial assistance over the past seven years and the time and space to complete this project. While the initial fieldwork was supported by a Shell Foundation Dissertation Research Award, two of the four subsequent trips were funded wholly or in part by Western Michigan University. In  I received a Faculty Research Award and in  a Presidential Award. The two chairs of the Department of Anthropology, first Robert Sundick and then Robert Ulin, encouraged my career progress and saw to it that I got the time to write. I also owe a great deal to the countless students I have had over the years. They have helped me learn how to explain things clearly and encouraged my writing with their curiosity. Finally, I must thank my own families. My parents, Frank and Rose-Marie Miles, instilled in me a curiosity about the world and encouraged me to question everything, appreciate humility, find a profession I love, and work hard-a good set of lessons for an anthropologist or anyone else, for that matter. Thanks, Mom, for the countless letters you sent during those lean years when mail was all there was-some days it was just good to know that my mother loved me. During my first stay in Ecuador my sister Renie visited me, providing me with a beautiful collection of slides and photographs (some of which appear in this book); my other sister, Kitty, sweetened my life in Cuenca by sending care packages laced with licorice drops. Since  my husband, Rich, has been my steady companion, unfailing supporter, and greatest champion. Rich has read every page of the manuscript several times, listened while I tried to work out problems, and held my hand when the going got rough. His generous spirit seems to know no limits. I am also grateful to my daughter, Isabel, whose cheerful playing brightened our time in Ecuador. Children's play can highlight ''cultural difference'' and then, in the blink of an eye, make it disappear.

Transnational migration is a controversial and much-discussed issue in both the popular media and the social sciences, but at its heart migration is about individual people making the difficult choice to leave their families and communities in hopes of achieving greater economic prosperity. Vicente Quitasaca is one of these people. In 1995 he left his home in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca to live and work in New York City. This anthropological story of Vicente's migration and its effects on his life and the lives of his parents and siblings adds a crucial human dimension to statistics about immigration and the macro impact of transnational migration on the global economy.

Anthropologist Ann Miles has known the Quitasacas since 1989. Her long acquaintance with the family allows her to delve deeply into the factors that eventually impelled the oldest son to make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States as an undocumented migrant. Focusing on each family member in turn, Miles explores their varying perceptions of social inequality and racism in Ecuador and their reactions to Vicente's migration. As family members speak about Vicente's new, hard-to-imagine life in America, they reveal how transnational migration becomes a symbol of failure, hope, resignation, and promise for poor people in struggling economies. Miles frames this fascinating family biography with an analysis of the historical and structural conditions that encourage transnational migration, so that the Quitasacas' story becomes a vivid firsthand illustration of this growing global phenomenon.

Discussions Of Transnational Migration Rarely Spare Time For The Individual Stories Which Can Be Told By Real People. This Volume Does Just That, Following The Journey Of Vicente Quitasaca From Cuenca In Ecuador To New York City. Ann Miles Assesses The Impact On His Life & On His Family. From Cuenca To Queens: Transnational Lives -- Transnational Migration: Economies And Identities -- Family Matters -- Rosa -- Lucho -- The Children -- Vicente -- Lives And Stories. Ann Miles. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 209-222) And Index.