Race and Law : An Analysis of the Subjection of the Mexican American Transnational Migrant Labor Force via Foucault's Theory of Discourse

Abstract

This project, which was completed over the course of the 2013 summer, consisted of two parts. The first was an internship at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), where I worked as an intern under the supervision of Lillie Wolff. The second was this analysis, whose conceptualization and execution was inspired by my time at MIRC. This analysis will trace the mutually-affective relationship between discourse and legislation in the racialization and subjection of the Mexican American transnational migrant labor force (MTML ). It will examine the nature of the discourse surrounding the MTML and immigration alongside the immigration and labor legislation that emerged. This historical analysis will be framed within the theory of Foucault, whose ideas of discourse and power are still influential.