The envios of San Pablo Huixtepec, Oaxaca : Food, home, and transnationalism

Transnationalism has been a major organizing theme for hundreds of immigration related studies, many of which have targeted Mexican migration to the United States economic remittances, and entrepreneurism. This case study is based on research carried out in Oaxaca with immigrants from the community of San Pablo Huixtepec and the flow of “remittance” from South to North. This study focuses on home to California sociocultural activities that serve to maintain family, community and cultural connections between the two. The major focus is on the business/entrepreneurial practice of envios, or family scale package services that move food and other cultural remittances from South to North. The system is not only economic but reflects transnational sociocultural activities that directly impact the immigrants’ ties back to home and life in California. This case study of the system of envios illustrates a unique dimension of transnational migration and living.