Transnational Ruptures

Catherine Nolin is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. She is also affiliated with the Graduate Studies programs in Interdisciplinary Studies & Natural Resources and Environmental Studies. Catherine combines academic and activist concerns related to the 1980s genocide in Guatemala, refugee movement to Canada, and Canadian immigration and refugee policy. Her research and teaching interests are shaped by a commitment to social justice and human rights.

’Immobility, rupture, and disconnection characterize the experiences of Guatemalan transnational migrants in Catherine Nolin's superb new ethnography. A multi-sited research strategy allows Nolin to illuminate new contours of the Guatemalan diaspora and at the same time, evoke a visceral sense of the difficulties and constraints in individual experiences of the diaspora.’ Altha J. Cravey, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA ’Nolin’s strong connection with the subject and with the lives of those Guatemalans torn from their communities and their past by violence places her precisely at the vantage point from where she can give full meaning to the experience of exile. By transcending a narrow conception of transnationalism, she depicts these lives in the complex setting of violence, displacement and the re-construction of identities.’ Viviana Patroni, York University, Canada 'An impressive contribution to the distinctive transnational experiences of refugees, Nolin also gives voice to the largely silent-to-date story of Guatemalan refugees in Canada.' Sarah Mahler, Florida International University, USA 'Professor Nolin's book is theoretically driven and empirically grounded. Her work drives home the benefits of a multi-sited ethnographic approach. She makes an important contribution to transnational migration research by bringing forced migration, gender and the Canadian experience squarely into the conversation.' Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College, USA 'Catherine Nolin has written a masterful analysis of Guatemalan migrants in Canada. The book is insightful and moving, and reflects a deep commitment to her work. With the metaphor of ruptures, Nolin brilliantly captures the experiences of women and men displaced by violence, and problematizes assumptions of continuity that often underlie contemporary scholarship on transnational living and migration. This book makes critical contributions on many fronts...It also offers a comparative perspec

• Contents: Community Ruptures and Transnational Migration: Rupture and renewal: Guatemala-Canada connections; Gender, community, and transnationalism. Guatemala to Canada: State violence, immigration Policies, and Population Dynamics: flight into exile: internal armed conflict and refugee displacement; Government policies and refugee dynamics: geographies of movement. Spatializing Gendered Transnational Identities: Transnational ethnographies: gendered narratives of rupture and suture; Social spaces and immobility of refugee transnationalism. Conclusion: Refugee transnationalism; Bibliography. Appendices: Glossary of immigrant categories and related terms; Seeing more numbers; From asylum to control: testimony of a deported taxi driver; "This is what I want to deliver": Antonio's escape to Canada; Index.