Sweet Home Chicago?: Mexican Migration and the Question of Belonging and Return (Global Studies)

Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among aged Mexican migrants in Chicago, Franziska Bedorf investigates the phenomenon of return migration by tracing how people's intentions to go back change over time. Considering global labour mobility, she evaluates transformations of belonging and the wider economic, political, social and cultural frameworks that shape them. In front of the backdrop of debates on integration, transnationalism and belonging, the study explores why migrants keep and form attachments to and detachments from places, people and cultures.

Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among older Mexican migrants in Chicago, Franziska Bedorf investigates the phenomenon of return migration by tracing how people's intentions to go back change over time. Considering global labour mobility, she examines transformations of belonging and the wider economic, political, social and cultural frameworks that shape them. Against the backdrop of debates on integration, transnationalism and belonging, the study explores why migrants keep and form attachments to and detachments from places, people and cultures.

Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Perspectives: Discussing Migration, Return And Belonging 3. Research Design And Methods 4. Setting: Exploring Mexican Chicago 5. Locating The People: Elderly Mexicans In Chicago Today 6. Expectations: Envisaging A Place For The Future And Weighing The Idea Of Return 7. Experiences: Configuring Belonging By Remembering The Past – Narratives Of Emerging Attachments And Detachments 8. Expressions: Practices Of Belonging Today 9. Discussion And Conclusion Appendix List Of Figures And Tables Bibliography