Gringolandia: Lifestyle Migration under Late Capitalism

Description

Even as the "migration crisis" from the Global South to the Global North rages on, another, lowerkey and yet important migration has been gathering pace in recent years-that of mostly white, middleclass people moving in the opposite direction. Focusing on North Americans relocating to Cuenca, Ecuador Gringolandia is that rare book to consider this phenomenon in all its complexity.

Matthew Hayes is the Canada Research Chair in Global and International Studies at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

"Matthew Hayes provides a vivid sociological portrayal of North Americans living in Ecuador alongside a theoretically sophisticated analysis of the global inequalities that shape growing north-south migration. Gringolandia is a must-read for students and scholars interested in a complex understanding of transnational migration in the context of 21st century globalization."-Sheila Croucher, author of The Other Side of the Fence: American Migrants in Mexico "Gringolandia offers a refreshing and powerful new perspective on lifestyle migration that demonstrates how it is caught up in the production of global inequalities informed by colonial legacies, the structures and practice of planetary gentrification, and the local class struggles this portends. Through his up-close ethnographic observations of the lives and motivations of North Americans living in Ecuador, Matthew Hayes presents a timely and sorely needed intervention that straddles the sociology of migration and urban studies, woven together through a deep concern with decoloniality."-Michaela Benson, Goldsmiths, University of London "The author should be commended for undertaking research on a type of migration different from the mainstream and for the excellent combination of ethnographic, historical, policy and political economy perspectives to show that all migrations are instances of social inequality. "-City & Society "Gringolandia is definitely the first book to consider the phenomenon of mostly white, middle-class people moving from the global North to the global South, but also one of the few that analyses this subject under this postmodern approach."-Journal of Latin American Studies "Gringolandia provides astute descriptive detail on migrants, the web of organizations marketing Ecuador as a destination, displaced Ecuadorian workers, and the effects of heritage-oriented economic development, which brings with it increased property values, higher rents, and large-scale projects requiring loans that shackle Ecuador to the global economy."-CHOICE "The book is not only about expats but also about political economy and whiteness. It is a captivating read and a solid contribution to the migration, global inequality, and race literatures."-Contemporary Sociology "This book is valuable for numerous reasons. It shows many of the complexities of North-South migration, including the multiple causes of migration, how transnational communication technologies are vital to contemporary international migration, and most importantly how unacknowledged but persistent inequalities can shape the trajectory of migration and its outcomes."-Journal of Cultural Geography "Gringolandia is a compelling ethnography of the mixed social life of a migrant enclave in Cuenca, but it is also a valuable critical reflection upon the strained social life of aging North Americans under late capitalism."-Anthropologica