Building on anthropological debates on the effects of financial capitalism in shaping geographical spaces and contemporary labor and kinship relations, I am exploring the urbanization and contradictory results of domestic maquiladoras in Mexican rural areas that are specialized in the manufacture and distribution of guayaberas (traditional four pocket shirts) for the hospitality industry. This system of production has transformed the village into an extremely vulnerable and fragile space, totally dependent upon the demand of the garment in the regional tourism market. And yet, at the same time, it has contributed to create a thriving population with cosmopolitan dreams and services, increasing material wealth, less oppressive gender norms, and a generalized sense of well-being (buen vivir).

I have been working on the production of a short ethnographic documentary film / interactive website entitled “Staying put: an educational documentary on domestic maquilas and tourism in Mexico”. This is an interdisciplinary and collaborative exercise co-produced with the award-winning documentary filmmaker Yolanda Pividal, from The Jacob Burns Film Center, New York. The project has received financial support from The UC San Diego’s Non-Senate Faculty Professional Development Fund (2015, 2016) and the Licenciatura en Turismo from the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY). The documentary aims to translate ethnographic knowledge on global-local relations, uneven development, tourism and gendered urbanization into the world of audiovisual storytelling.