American Value: Migrants, Money, and Meaning in El Salvador and the United States
David Pedersen
Abstract
Over the past half-century, El Salvador has transformed dramatically. Historically reliant on primary exports such as 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. This book 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 S ... More
Over the past half-century, El Salvador has transformed dramatically. Historically reliant on primary exports such as 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. This book 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. It charts El Salvador's change alongside American deindustrialization, viewing the Salvadoran migrant work abilities used in new low-wage 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, the book 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. It offers insights into practices that are increasingly common throughout the world.
Keywords:
coffee,
El Salvador,
cotton,
civil war,
emigrant workforce,
national income,
Intipucá,
Salvadoran town,
remittance wealth,
Salvadorans
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2013 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226653396 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: September 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226922775.001.0001 |
