Home  >  Beacon Press
The Right to Stay Home

The Right to Stay Home

How US Policy Drives Mexican American Migration

The story of the growing resistance of Mexican communities to the poverty that forces people to migrate to the United States

Product Code: 5115
ISBN: 9780807061213
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published Date: 09/02/2014
Availability:In stock
N/A
Price: $25.00
Qty:
Add to Cart Add to Wishlist

People across Mexico are being forced into migration, and while 11 percent of that country's population lives north of the US border, the decision to migrate is rarely voluntary. Free trade agreements and economic policies that exacerbate and reinforce extreme wealth disparities make it impossible for Mexicans to make a living at home. And yet when they migrate to the United States, they must grapple with criminalization, low wages, and exploitation.

In The Right to Stay Home, journalist David Bacon tells the story of the growing resistance of Mexican communities. Bacon shows how immigrant communities are fighting back—envisioning a world in which migration isn't forced by poverty or environmental destruction and people are guaranteed the "right to stay home." This richly detailed and comprehensive portrait of immigration reveals how the interconnected web of labor, migration, and the global economy unites farmers, migrant workers, and union organizers across borders.

In addition to incisive reporting, eleven narratives are included, giving readers the chance to hear the voices of activists themselves as they reflect on their experiences, analyze the complexities of their realities, and affirm their vision for a better world.


Bookmark and Share
Contents

Introduction

ONE From Perote to Tar Heel
Pushing people out of Veracruz
Smithfield goes to Mexico
And Veracruz migrants come to the United States
The union campaign in Tar Heel
Demands for change, on both sides of the border
NARRATIVE ONE. You don’t need to be a doctor or scientist to smell the stench: The story of Fausto Limon
NARRATIVE TWO. We’re here because of the economic crisis: The story of David Ceja and Guadalupe Marroquin

TWO Cursed by golf or blessed by corn
Communities resist Canadian mining companies
Killings in San Jose del Progreso
Oaxacans debate poverty and migration
A government committed to the right to not migrate
Can the Triquis go home?
NARRATIVE THREE. If we don’t attack the roots of migration, it will continue to grow: The story of Rufino Dominguez
NARRATIVE FOUR. We want to talk about the right to stay home: The story of Aldo Gonzalez

THREE The right to a union means the right to stay home

Mexican miners resist repression and poverty
Labor law reform a boss could love
Calderon goes to war with the SME
Migration and cross-border labor solidarity
NARRATIVE FIVE. We’re fighting for our rights to keep on living in Cananea: The story of Jacinto Martinez NARRATIVE SIX. No matter what the result, we will continue to resist: The story of Humberto Montes de Oca

FOUR Defending the human rights of migrants
Special courtrooms for immigrants
Bush ties workplace raids to immigration reform
Myths and realities of enforcement reform
Myths and realities of enforcement
Mississippi resists political raids and anti-immigrant bills
Utah’s immigration bills: A blast from the past
NARRATIVE SEVEN. They pay us a wage that barely allows us to make a living. The story of Lucrecia Camacho
NARRATIVE EIGHT. We made them millions of dollars: The story of Lupe Chavez FIVE Fighting the firings
Mass firings: The Obama Administration’s workplace enforcement policy
The firings spread, along with resistance
Protest tactics cross the border
Marching away from the Cold War
NARRATIVE NINE. This law is very unjust: The story of Teresa Mina
NARRATIVE TEN. When we speak you hear a roar. The story of Keith Ludlum and Terry Slaughter
SIX Human Beings or Just Workers?
How do you say Justice in Mixteco?
Sometimes less than citizens
Enforcing labor rights for border crossers
Canada’s “Model” guest worker program
The pitfalls of regulating guest worker programs
NARRATIVE ELEVEN. The future doesn’t exist for us here: The story of Miguel Huerta

SEVEN The right to not migrate and radical reform
Challenging the Washington DC, consensus
The right to not migrate is a social movement

Acknowledgements
Sources
index

"Bacon's book, which is enhanced by 11 personal narratives, will help readers gain a significantly more sophisticated understanding of the context and on-the-ground reality of undocumented migrants in the U.S."—Publishers Weekly

"Combining evocative personal narratives with penetrating geopolitical analysis, this compelling study vividly reveals the devastating effects on Mexico of the global class war of the past decades and their impact on the United States. Perhaps the most strking demand of the victim is 'the right to not migrate,' and the right to live with dignity and hope, bitterly attacked under the neoliberal version of globalization."—Noam Chomsky

"A must-read for organizers, immigrant advocates, policy wonks, and citizens who care about our history and values as a nation. This book puts a human face on the immigration debate, its impact on people on both sides of the border, and the indispensable elements of real comprehensive immigration reform-who got us into this mess and what we need to do to fix it." —Eliseo Medina, international secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and former vice president of the United Farm Workers

"Bacon's work reminds us that migration has a profound impact on the places migrants leave from, just as surely as it does on the places they go to. He argues persuasively that the right not to migrate cannot be divorced from immigrant rights.… The heart of David Bacon's whole body of work is in human stories, and this book validates its ideas with vivid testimony, in their own words, from those most affected." —John W. Wilhelm, president of UNITEHERE!
Be the first to submit a review on this product!
Review and Rate this Item

People across Mexico are being forced into migration, and while 11 percent of that country's population lives north of the US border, the decision to migrate is rarely voluntary. Free trade agreements and economic policies that exacerbate and reinforce extreme wealth disparities make it impossible for Mexicans to make a living at home. And yet when they migrate to the United States, they must grapple with criminalization, low wages, and exploitation.

In The Right to Stay Home, journalist David Bacon tells the story of the growing resistance of Mexican communities. Bacon shows how immigrant communities are fighting back—envisioning a world in which migration isn't forced by poverty or environmental destruction and people are guaranteed the "right to stay home." This richly detailed and comprehensive portrait of immigration reveals how the interconnected web of labor, migration, and the global economy unites farmers, migrant workers, and union organizers across borders.

In addition to incisive reporting, eleven narratives are included, giving readers the chance to hear the voices of activists themselves as they reflect on their experiences, analyze the complexities of their realities, and affirm their vision for a better world.


Bookmark and Share
Contents

Introduction

ONE From Perote to Tar Heel
Pushing people out of Veracruz
Smithfield goes to Mexico
And Veracruz migrants come to the United States
The union campaign in Tar Heel
Demands for change, on both sides of the border
NARRATIVE ONE. You don’t need to be a doctor or scientist to smell the stench: The story of Fausto Limon
NARRATIVE TWO. We’re here because of the economic crisis: The story of David Ceja and Guadalupe Marroquin

TWO Cursed by golf or blessed by corn
Communities resist Canadian mining companies
Killings in San Jose del Progreso
Oaxacans debate poverty and migration
A government committed to the right to not migrate
Can the Triquis go home?
NARRATIVE THREE. If we don’t attack the roots of migration, it will continue to grow: The story of Rufino Dominguez
NARRATIVE FOUR. We want to talk about the right to stay home: The story of Aldo Gonzalez

THREE The right to a union means the right to stay home

Mexican miners resist repression and poverty
Labor law reform a boss could love
Calderon goes to war with the SME
Migration and cross-border labor solidarity
NARRATIVE FIVE. We’re fighting for our rights to keep on living in Cananea: The story of Jacinto Martinez NARRATIVE SIX. No matter what the result, we will continue to resist: The story of Humberto Montes de Oca

FOUR Defending the human rights of migrants
Special courtrooms for immigrants
Bush ties workplace raids to immigration reform
Myths and realities of enforcement reform
Myths and realities of enforcement
Mississippi resists political raids and anti-immigrant bills
Utah’s immigration bills: A blast from the past
NARRATIVE SEVEN. They pay us a wage that barely allows us to make a living. The story of Lucrecia Camacho
NARRATIVE EIGHT. We made them millions of dollars: The story of Lupe Chavez FIVE Fighting the firings
Mass firings: The Obama Administration’s workplace enforcement policy
The firings spread, along with resistance
Protest tactics cross the border
Marching away from the Cold War
NARRATIVE NINE. This law is very unjust: The story of Teresa Mina
NARRATIVE TEN. When we speak you hear a roar. The story of Keith Ludlum and Terry Slaughter
SIX Human Beings or Just Workers?
How do you say Justice in Mixteco?
Sometimes less than citizens
Enforcing labor rights for border crossers
Canada’s “Model” guest worker program
The pitfalls of regulating guest worker programs
NARRATIVE ELEVEN. The future doesn’t exist for us here: The story of Miguel Huerta

SEVEN The right to not migrate and radical reform
Challenging the Washington DC, consensus
The right to not migrate is a social movement

Acknowledgements
Sources
index

"Bacon's book, which is enhanced by 11 personal narratives, will help readers gain a significantly more sophisticated understanding of the context and on-the-ground reality of undocumented migrants in the U.S."—Publishers Weekly

"Combining evocative personal narratives with penetrating geopolitical analysis, this compelling study vividly reveals the devastating effects on Mexico of the global class war of the past decades and their impact on the United States. Perhaps the most strking demand of the victim is 'the right to not migrate,' and the right to live with dignity and hope, bitterly attacked under the neoliberal version of globalization."—Noam Chomsky

"A must-read for organizers, immigrant advocates, policy wonks, and citizens who care about our history and values as a nation. This book puts a human face on the immigration debate, its impact on people on both sides of the border, and the indispensable elements of real comprehensive immigration reform-who got us into this mess and what we need to do to fix it." —Eliseo Medina, international secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and former vice president of the United Farm Workers

"Bacon's work reminds us that migration has a profound impact on the places migrants leave from, just as surely as it does on the places they go to. He argues persuasively that the right not to migrate cannot be divorced from immigrant rights.… The heart of David Bacon's whole body of work is in human stories, and this book validates its ideas with vivid testimony, in their own words, from those most affected." —John W. Wilhelm, president of UNITEHERE!
Be the first to submit a review on this product!
Review and Rate this Item

You might also be interested in: