THE EMERGENCE OF THE WAGED LIFE COURSE ON THE UNITED-STATES-MEXICO BORDER

Histories of families repatriated from the United States to Mexico in the 1930s reveal conflicts between older and younger generations over residence, consumption, and work. These conflicts were caused by the emergence of a life course based on the principle that an individual is responsible to the market for selling labor, a life course which could no longer be reconciled with the traditional obligations of generational succession. This model of life courses may be useful in studying the differences between cyclical and permanent working classes. [U.S.‐Mexico border, wage labor, working classes, life courses, material culture] 1990 American Anthropological Association