Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Globalization and Local Effects in Sending Communities

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Graduate student Mary A. Scott, under the direction of Dr. Mary K. Anglin, will undertake research on the relationship between globalization processes and international inequalities. Social scientists have observed that transnational migration may negatively affect people who already are disadvantaged. Typically, the focus is on those who migrate rather than the those who remain in the communities from which they come. In this project, Scott will will undertake an exploration of the effects of transnational migration at the local level in a sending community. Her research will focus on women's health outcomes in southern Veracruz, Mexico, a state which has seen a steep increase in transnational migration in the last ten years. Scott will employ a multi-faceted, mixed-methods research strategy. She will interview both women and health care providers, construct case studies, and carry out participant observation. Interviews will focus on household migration status, socioeconomic status, household health, women's involvement in the household economy, and women's social network resources. Case studies will include more intensive, follow-up interviews with selected women and participant observation in their households. Interviews and participant observation with community health care providers will aid in understanding the common health issues that women face. This project is novel in its focus on the local-level processes through which globalization affects communities of origin. It will inform researchers who are concerned with the impact of transnational migration on health, in particular, but it also will help to building a more complete social science theory of international migration and globalization processes. In addition, this award contributes significantly to the education of social scientist.