This project supports a cultural anthropologist and two sociologists in a continuing study of how households in a mid- sized Mexican city respond to the continuing economic crisis. Previous research dating from 1977 identified a sample of households and interviewed them on their social and economic activities. this project will re-interview the households and focus on ethnic differences in the city itself, as well as extend the sample to three secondary center surrounding this regional core. The study will focus on the households as decision-making bodies trying to adapt to changing and uncertain prospects for earning a living. this research is important because it is the first study of a Latin American city based on longitudinal survey data combined with long-term ethnography. Understanding the strategies of these households will help planners deal with the effects of changing macro-level economic policies which create or diminish local jobs, which then increase or decrease labor migration form Mexico into the US.
