"The Symbolic Economy of Trans-order Governance: A Case Study of Subjective Exclusion and Migrant Women from Mexico"

Abstract

Using the case example of women from Mexico who migrate north for work, this article offers an analysis of the symbolic economy that directs the trans-border regulation of (im)migration, gender, and transnational livelihoods. I seek to trace specific symbolic mechanisms of subjective exclusion through which the nation-state and domestic market merge to reach across "sovereign" borders to secure a transnational workforce marked by subordination, dispossession, and illegitimacy. This symbolic power, exercised in laws, policies, and practices, functions to feminize, criminalize, and commodify migration. Extending previous and ongoing research, and incorporating literature addressing gender in migratory flows, I investigate the peculiar and contrived legal place of women migrating north as low-skilled temporary workers, undocumented workers, or as citizens. I argue that women who migrate, especially those who migrate unaccompanied by a male relative, are necessarily positioned at the outset on the margins of all national and international laws that might protect them. The objective of this article is to prime research questions of citizenship, choice, and social identity, and to point toward policy and regulatory recommendations that will more effectively address all forms of social exclusion for the millions of people engaged in transnational livelihoods.