Transnational Care Networks: Experiences of Women Caring for Children in Cosalá, Sinaloa, and Remotely from California, USA.

Abstract

International migration is one of the most complex processes of the 21st century, as it intertwines economic, social, and cultural dimensions that directly affect the daily lives of families. Within the Mexico–United States migration corridor, women play a central role in organizing transnational care, particularly in contexts of precarity. This article examines the experiences of women from Cosalá who provide care for children both locally in Cosalá, Sinaloa, and remotely in California, United States. The research is grounded in a qualitative, feminist, and interpretive approach, aligned with a situated epistemology that recognizes women as epistemic subjects. A localized sample was used, based on life stories, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and content analysis supported by ATLAS.ti. The findings show that although women face structural inequalities related to gender, class, and migratory status, they deploy strategies of agency and negotiation to sustain care networks. The concept of intersectionality, made it possible to highlight how these inequalities are produced simultaneously and in differentiated ways, but also how women generate situated forms of resistance. The analysis reveals that family networks reproduce the feminization of care, while also serving as spaces for autonomy and social reorganization.