“We Came for the Cartilla but We Stayed for the Tortilla”: Enlisting in the Military as a Form of Migration for Zapotec Men

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-4-2019

Publication Title

The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology

First page number:

1

Last page number:

18

Abstract

In recent years there have been extensive academic and public discussions about the Mexican military, yet we know little about the lives of soldiers who are part the Mexican army. This article analyzes the experiences of Zapotec men in the Mexican army, establishing two main points: (1) the relationship between indigenous communities and the Mexican military is intertwined and connected to larger political and economic phenomena; and (2) the experiences of indigenous soldiers should be analyzed not only in occupational terms but as a form of migration. In relation to this second point, I conclude that there are significant parallelisms and connections between the experience of enlisting in the military and of transnational migration. [Mexican military, indigenous soldiers, migration, Oaxaca, Mexico]

Disciplines

Military and Veterans Studies | Social and Cultural Anthropology

Language

English

Subtitle Language

Spanish

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