Available From UC Press

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Sometimes leaving home allows you to make an impact on it—but at what cost? Exit and Voice is a compelling account of how Mexican migrants with strong ties to their home communities impact the economic and political welfare of the communities they have left behind. In many decentralized democracies like Mexico, migrants have willingly stepped in to supply public goods when local or state government lack the resources or political will to improve the town. Though migrants’ cross-border investments often improve citizens’ access to essential public goods and create a more responsive local government, their work allows them to unintentionally exert political engagement and power, undermining the influence of those still living in their hometowns. In looking at the paradox of migrants who have left their home to make an impact on it, Exit and Voice sheds light on how migrant transnational engagement refashions the meaning of community, democratic governance, and practices of citizenship in the era of globalization.

Lauren Duquette-Rury is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Wayne State University. 

"An extraordinary analysis of what it means to be a migrant. Duquette has given us a text that goes well beyond the familiar. She situates the migrant in a complex set of vectors, both local and transnational, opening up the meaning of migration itself."—Saskia Sassen, author of Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy

"Despite distance and difficulties, migrants around the world reach down into their pockets to help out the communities they left behind.  Hoping that migration can spur development and possibly even democracy, scholars and policy makers find the effort laudable.  But as Lauren Duquette-Rury demonstrates in this brilliant, beautifully written book, engaging from abroad is a challenging enterprise.  Drawing on extensive fieldwork and ingenious analyses of a variety of different data sources, Duquette-Rury insightfully explains why some migrants succeed and others, good intentions notwithstanding, only find frustration.  A book to be savored by scholars and students alike."—Roger Waldinger, Distinguished Professor and Director of the UCLA Center for the Study of International Migration

“How do people who move to another country sometimes become more influential in the place they left? Exit and Voice combines surveys and lively details from original fieldwork to explore this paradox and identify the fragile pillars sustaining efforts to live in two worlds.”—David FitzGerald, author of Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers.

"Expertly combines statistical analysis of existing surveys with qualitative analysis of interviews from original fieldwork to arrive at a novel conclusion."—Filiz Garip, author of On the Move: Changing Mechanisms of Mexico-U.S. Migration