New Book: Mexicanos en el Exterior

The new book “Mexicanos en el Exterior: Trayectoria y perspectivas (1990-2010)” is a magnificient contribution to the analysis of the transnational relations between the Mexican government and the organized Mexican diaspora. It is published by the Instituto Matías Romero, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Mexico.

The contents of the book, which is written in Spanish, is divided in four sections. The first section is written by former directors of the Program of Mexican Communities Abroad (PCME): Roger Dáz de Cossío, Leonardo Ffrench Iduarte, Rodulfo Figueroa Aramoni, Teodoro Maus, and Melba Pría; and the former director of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME): Carlos González Gutiérrez. In this section, we find a rich set of considerations about the most important aspects of the Mexican government’s institutional efforts to contact and organize Mexicans abroad: How everything began, the transition from PCME to IME, the networking efforts, the pending stuff, and the future.

The second section is a collection of essays from Mexican and American scholars about the IME: The importance of the actions of the Advisory Council of the IME, the IME as a tool of Mexican Foreign Policy, the role of the United States in the process, and thoughts about the migrant him/herself, mostly as a social subject of study.

The third section was written by representatives of the civic society who have witnessed the process from different perspectives: organizations of civil society abroad, the cultural factors of the process, and historical essays on the matter. Last, but not least, the fourth section deals with the topic from the perspective of the members of the Advisory Council of the IME: Leni González, Laura González Martínez, Gloria Inzunza-Franco, Orlando Iturbe, María de los Ángeles López-Gallo, Eliseo Medina, Enrique Morones Careaga, Juan de Dios Pineda, and Mario César Ramírez.

I think that this book is a strong, updated reference for scholars in Mexican migration issues, institutional transnationalism, and historical studies of Mexican foreign affairs. To get the book, go directly to the website of the Instituto Matías Romero.