Parcels Book Review

Parcels Book Review

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Parcels Book Review

Introduction

Immigration has been a social issue for a long time. Countries at various levels, whether developed or underdeveloped, take the issue of immigration very seriously. It has been considered a problem by some countries, whereas a blessing for some. The host country, if also undergoing developmental issues, considers it a burden if some immigrants from some other country come and start living in their country. The immigrants also become a burden if the country is going through some crisis like war or famine. The term immigration refers to a person or a group of people leaving their native homeland or country to settle in some other region. The group of people in this scenario can be the members of the same family or a tribe and the region to which they are moving can be inside the same country or in a different country altogether.

The discussion over the topic of immigration has never become mild, in fact, it is an ongoing debate that keeps going on and on. The reason for this continuity is the issue is also ongoing. The immigration keep happening all over the world on a regular basis, whether on individual levels or mass levels. Many pieces of literature have been peen recorded on the issue and much work is still being done on the topic as the patterns of immigration keep changing with time. One of the prominent pieces of literature in this respect is “Parcels: Memories of f Salvadoran Migration”. “Parcels: Memories of Salvadoran Migration” has been penned down by author and sociologist Mike Anastario. The book released on May 3, 2019, under the publishing banner of Rutgers University Press. The original publishing language is English and the book contains 212 pages in total.

Discussion

Book Summary

The book “Parcels: Memories of Salvadoran Migration” is an account of memories, analysis, tales, and logics about the great immigration that happened between El Salvador and the United States as the aftermath of the great Civil War. After the Civil War, a great number of immigrants moved toward the lands of the United States of America, to seek refuge and save their properties and lives. The book has been written keeping in mind the recent proposals by the constitution makers to control the incoming and growth of the undocumented immigrants in the country. The author recalls the memories from the past days, when the immigration between El Salvador and the United States happened after the Civil War and how the issue was tackled at that time.

The book touches the dimensions of both social sciences and political sciences to explain the nature of the issue. The author inculcates the memories of mass immigration from the town of "El Norteño," a rural municipality in the town of El Salvador, towards the United States of America once the town was heavily destructed by the Civil War. In those tough times, two viahjeros (travelers) used to carry parcels between the two countries. The author has worked closely with the two volunteers and explained the cultural and structural significance of these parcels. These parcels mostly contained food, medicines, documents, maps, letters, and photographs. The book highlights the social memories and importance of these parcels no matter what the circumstances of both the countries were. It is account to elucidate the social and collective memories of the migrants despite the social tensions across both the borders.

About The Author

Mike Anastario is a teacher by profession and writer by passion. Being a sociologist, he teaches sociology, psychology and public health at the Department of Psychology and Public Health in UCA El Salvador. He is deeply interested in the agrarian world, human health and relationship of human beings with non-human agents and has contributed in the writing if 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on these topics.

Review

“Parcels: Memories of Salvadoran Migration” is a publication that discusses the social sciences and political sciences in the Caribbean and Latin American region. The book revolves around the Latinidad and Transnational culture in the United States of America that happened as a result of the immigration of the groups that migrated from another region to the United States and other countries of the world and settled down here for good.

The book also covers further many more topics like discrimination and racial relations between the individuals of the host country and the immigrants. The writer, Mark Anastario has a deep insight into the social issues that are being faced by the people coming from a different geographical region to an entirely new region and settling down at the new place. Being a psychologist and a sociologist, he precisely understands the problems that an immigrant or a group of immigrants face when they move their whole home and settlement at a new place. There are various issues like food scarcity, finding a new home or place to live, clean or healthy drinking water and multiple other settlement issues.

In addition to all this, the author throws light over the sensitive issue of political concerns regarding as well. The newly emigrated people from El Salvador had to face multiple issues regarding the policies of the country in order to settle down and get themselves recognized. Even until now, the new proposals put forward for the treatment and control of the undocumented immigrants in the country may prove harmful for their well-being and even for the progress of the country.

The writer Mike Anastario has made use of the various techniques and items to highlight the hardships of the immigrants and make the readers realize the toughness of conditions for a person who has just migrated and left their homeland for good. He uses various sorts of social, psychological and political analysis to stress over the importance of his point. Moreover, multiple accounts of the memories by the immigrants themselves and testimonies in the own words of those immigrants who have bore the hardships of such immigration.

The author puts a stress over the importance of parcels in such a condition. The focus, in this book, has been put over the exchange of parcels between both the countries so that the exchange of information can keep happening between the two countries. The author puts stress over the exchange of information between the host country and the country from where the immigrants have migrated. He has used the example of the parcels that how the two viajeros used to carry the parcels and packets across the borders so that they can transport various items to the newly immigrated people from El Salvador. This facilitated the newly immigrated and settled people from El Salvador in the United States of America. This became an important source of food and various other items to be transported to the immigrants. Moreover, the travelers did not only carry the tangible stuff with them but also the sentiments and the best wishes of the relatives of the immigrants to them. And not only this, this was a two-way communication; the families from back home sent their love, gifts, and food items to the newly settle immigrants and the immigrants also reciprocated it with their love, and updates about their current condition, which soothed their relatives and family. This also became the major source about the current circumstances in the country, as most of the times, the parcels contained letters, documents, and photographs which were full of the troubles and the hardships that the immigrants had to face in the unknown and new region of the United States.

The parcels mentioned in this book actually refer to the exchange of ideas and information between the two nations. The author wants to convey the message that no matter whatever the circumstances are, no matter how tough the conditions become, the exchange of information and ideas between the nations should not stop. There can be times when keeping a balance between the relations in the two countries can be tough and maintenance of peace can become very challenging. These are the times which test the courage of the people of that nation and check the ability and skills of the people living in the nation. The author, Mike Anastario has stressed over the fact that although the governments or the military fronts of the nations are not comfortable with each other in such times, the nation and the people should not lose hope and keep exchanging their ideas for the restoration of peace and prosperity. And the term “parcel" is not only limited to information and ideas, but it also comprises of various forms of love, best wishes, good sentiments, and prayers as well.

In addition to all this, the writer has also suggested the lawmakers and the policy designers of the nations be flexible while making policies for the immigrants that have moved from their homeland to settle in a totally new place. Anastario clearly understands the concerns of the governments to be worried about the security and safety of their own country and people, but he still insists that the United States government should re-consider their immigration policies. The lawmakers in the cabinet of the United States of America should try to understand the issues of the immigrants that have left their home town to move to a new place. The immigrants have already left their home, their properties, their culture, and the roots, and they already have many issues in their lives in the settlement, and the policies related to immigration only add to their problems and put them through more pain. So in the opinion of Mike Anastario, there should be relaxed for the immigration policies in the constitution of the United States of America.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it can be concluded that “Parcels: Memories of Salvadoran Migration” is a must read for every book lover. It is especially a treat for those people who are interested in history and the sociological interactions between different individuals, especially during times of distress. The book also throws light over various policies and strategies designed by different governments to tackle the issue of immigrants. So the people who love to get an insight into the latest policies and updates about world politics will love to read this. It takes the readers down the memory lane in the days of the Civil War, when there was a disturbance in all the region and people were moving here and there to save their lives and properties. In such times, a mass exodus happened from El Salvador and the United States of America which changed the structure of both the countries. The issues of security and safety undoubtedly also aroused at that time but they were tackled strategically and with the mutual corporation of both the countries. Moreover, the social interactions were maintained by keeping an exchange of parcels of various items across the borders.

End Notes

Anastario, Mike. Parcels: Memories of Salvadoran Migration. Rutgers University Press, 2019.