Garder ses distances. (Dés)activation des réseaux communautaires et territoires migratoires, entre Mexique et États-Unis

Based on an ethnographic survey conducted in 2007 of a group of indigenous Mexican migrants, the article deals with changes in ethnic network activations observed in various places of migration (Mexican towns, and those in the U.S. Midwest). Analyzing the interactions between migratory projects, networks and local backgrounds, the article discusses the layout of the “transnational ethnic network,” a cornerstone of the literature on minority populations. It first shows that the “new destinations” of Latin-American migrations to the U.S. are not favorable to community practices. It then sheds light on the motivations and strategies devised by migrants who wish to distance themselves from ethnic networks, highlighting the role of key actors (smugglers, and employers) in the status and migratory experience of this process. Finally, it discusses how some factors (gender, race, and migratory status) either facilitate or prevent separation from the group of origin. The capacity to (de)activate community networks seems a fully-fledged component of the migratory project, although such skill sets are unequally distributed. This capacity orients mobility and settlement according to local settings and migrants’ responses to them. Thus, the dynamic and geographical scope of transnational networks is brought to light