Undocumented Mexican Women’s Religious Constructions

• In Event: 566 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Religion

Abstract

This paper will analyze a range of religious constructions that allow Mexican undocumented immigrant women to cope with the challenges and make decisions about their new contexts. In addition, this paper will illustrate how these Mexican immigrant women appropriate and transform select religious beliefs to sustain a continuity of self by drawing on discursive resources that are personally accessible. While major life transitions, such as divorce, isolation, and marginality have the power to disrupt self-narratives, these religious constructions make the continuity of self discursively possible.

Author

• Betsabeth Monica Lugo, University of Texas-Austin