Title American value : migrants, money, and meaning in El Salvador and the United States / David Pedersen

Published Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, ©2013

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Description 1 online resource (xx, 316 pages) : illustrations Series Chicago studies in practices of meaning Chicago studies in practices of meaning. Contents List of Characters; Preface; Prologue; Introduction; One. A Roadmap for Remittances; Part I.; Two. Brushing against the Golden Grain; Three. Melting Fields of Snow; Four. The Intrusion of Uncomfortable Wars, Illegals, and Remittances; Part II.; Five. The Wealth of Pueblos; Six. Immigrant Entrepreneurship; Part III.; Seven. Welcome to Intipucá City; Eight. The World in a Park; Finale; Nine. Options and Models for the Future; Conclusion Summary "Over the past half-century, El Salvador has transformed dramatically. Historically reliant on primary exports like coffee and cotton, the country emerged from a brutal civil war in 1992 to find much of its national income now coming from a massive emigrant workforce-over a quarter of its population-that earns money in the United States and sends it home. In American Value, David Pedersen examines this new way of life as it extends across two places: Intipucá, a Salvadoran town infamous for its remittance wealth, and the Washington, DC, metro area, home to the second largest population of Salvadorans in the United States. Pedersen charts El Salvador's change alongside American deindustrialization, viewing the Salvadoran migrant work abilities used in new lowwage American service jobs as a kind of primary export, and shows how the latest social conditions linking both countries are part of a longer history of disparity across the Americas. Drawing on the work of Charles S. Peirce, he demonstrates how the defining value forms--migrant work capacity, services, and remittances--act as signs, building a moral world by communicating their exchangeability while hiding the violence and exploitation on which this story rests. Theoretically sophisticated, ethnographically rich, and compellingly written, American Value offers critical insights into practices that are increasingly common throughout the world"--Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Salvadorans -- United States -- Economic conditions Salvadorans -- United States -- Social conditions Emigrant remittances -- El Salvador Salvadorans -- United States. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- General. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Minority Studies. Diplomatic relations Emigrant remittances Salvadorans Salvadorans -- Economic conditions Salvadorans -- Social conditions SUBJECT El Salvador -- Foreign relations -- United States United States -- Foreign relations -- El Salvador Subject El Salvador United States Form Electronic book ISBN 9780226922775 0226922774 9781283855761 1283855763

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