Culture, Migration, and Sport: A Bi-National Investigation of Southern Mexican Migrant Communities in Oaxaca, Mexico and Los Angeles, California

My dissertation focuses on the relationship of sport and community building. In Los Angeles, CA and Oaxaca, Mexico the cultural practice of basketball is a productive social tool that is used to enhance community relationships. This research starts with individual identity (micro) and the cultural motivations that relate to communities in Los Angeles and Oaxaca. I begin with an individual perspective to discuss the impact of prime cultural motivations on larger social processes (transnational, migration, globalization, etc). I used traditional anthropological methods (ethnography, participant observation, visual data collection) to examine the sport of Oaxacan basketball in Los Angeles and Oaxaca. Through an iterative process data was collected from 2007-2011 to develop an ethnographic account of Oaxacan basketball in Los Angeles and Oaxaca. Results from the data show that basketball in Oaxaca is a rich cultural tradition that has a significant history that pre-dates the "modern" explosion of sport during the last 25 years. I will discuss ethnographic and visual data to support my conclusion that Oaxacan basketball is a cultural sport with transnational and global outcomes. This research contributes to theoretical models of migration, sport, and identity by focusing on cultural practices.