Community formation in frontier Mexico: Accepting and rejecting new migrants

Through a comparison of two communities, this paper addresses village formation in frontier Campeche, Mexico. Mexico's village political unit, the ejido, allows farmers flexibility in deciding who may take up residence in their communities. The paper analyzes how established farmers employ ideas of ethnicity, family, and expectations of social strife to assess the longterm compatibility of newcomers. The paper further examines the role of economic stratification, village factionalism, and development programs in structuring acceptance into a village. The findings challenge prevalent economic explanations for migration and point to the need for research into the interaction of economic and political factors in intrarural migration.