WOMEN AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES IN POOR URBAN CONTEXTS: A CASE STUDY FROM GUADALAJARA, MEXICO

Urban poverty in countries like Mexico nowadays shows a new dynamism that calls for an interdisciplinary approach to allow us to sort out the underlying mechanisms that keep many Mexican households in poverty. Based on current theoretical debates about survival strategies and relying on an anthropological approach, this paper analyzes how urban poor households confront their condition. The analysis starts out from a case study, the world of meanings that underlie poverty and the alternatives that the urban poor current-ly develop, especially urban poor women, who are mothers (whether they be heads of household or not), in order to survive daily