In the fall of 2006 I began graduate school at the University of New Mexico (UNM). As a graduate student I became interested in the role of migrant remittances (money sent back to Mexico by Mexican migrants) in rural development in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. This research project, which I continue to work on today, got me interested in more general questions concerning democracy and development. Through extensive periods of residence outside the country and hands on research in places like Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, I have had the opportunity to witness individuals and groups mobilize resources and make a difference in the lives of less fortunate individuals that suffer from social inequalities that many people are not even aware exist. Such experiences have led me to the conclusion that there is a real value in locating the causes of social problems in the world through research because in doing so, social scientists pave the path for future development. Put simply, I firmly believe that locating the mechanisms that drive social inequality in society provide policy makers with the information that they need to draft better social policies in the future and in this manner, improve the lot of society as a whole. This space is a platform for research notes related to my current work. I welcome comments and feedback!
“The purpose of empirical inquiry is to settle disagreements and doubts about facts, and thus to make arguments more fruitful by basing all sides more substantively. Facts discipline reason; but reason is the advance guard in any field of learning.”
“On Intellectual Craftsmanship,” C. Wright Mills p. 205
“Ideas occur to us when they please, not when it pleases us. The best ideas do indeed occur to one’s mind in the way in which Ihering describes it: when smoking a cigar on the sofa; or as Helmholtz states of himself with scientific exactitude: when taking a walk on a slowly ascending street; or in a similar way. In any case, ideas come when we do not expect them, and not when we are brooding and searching at our desks. Yet ideas would certainly not come to mind had we not brooded at our desks and searched for answers with passionate devotion.”
“Science as a Vocation,” Max Weber p. 136
1.) Remittance Led Development in Mexico
