Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 October 2022
A review of the literature on migrant regional and village associations in Latin American cities reveals an emphasis on the forms and functions of such groups (Doughty 1970; Orellana 1973; Jongkind 1974; Skeldon 1976, 1977; Altamirano 1984a). Far less has been written about why such associations are formed (Kerri 1976, 34). The paucity of explanations appears to be the result of two analytic extremes.
An earlier version was presented at the 1983 Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in San Diego. While the thoughts expressed here are my sole responsibility, I wish to acknowledge key collegial and institutional support. Providing cogent suggestions were Teófilo Altamirano of the Universidad Católica del Perú, Wayne A. Cornelius, Uli Linke, Bryan R. Roberts, Susan Buck Sutton, Gilbert W. Merkx, and the LARR anonymous reviewers. The Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as the Inter-American Foundation provided generous support. I owe much to three groups of Rincón Zapotec migrants in Mexico City, with whom I carried out fieldwork between 1975 and 1979. Finally, special thanks to Professors Laura Nader, Nelson H. H. Graburn, Larissa Lomnitz, and Janice E. Perlman. They, along with George M. Foster and Woodrow Borah, provided constant encouragement and support for this research.