mapping of streams

[Guest guest]

Taking off from Bletzer's recent posting here --

I can't comment either knowledgeably or intelligently about the three-stream

origins and diagramming, but I sure do think we now need something

different -- to include " workforce overlap " research and mapping in the 21st

century USA. What I'm trying to suggest is some research not only about

where FARMWORKERS live and work (in agriculture) (mapping the " streams " ),

but also where low-income Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean MIGRANTS

and IMMIGRANTS in the US live and work (doing variously crop agriculture,

horticulture, meat packing, poultry, day labor/construction, seasonal

service sector) and what precisely their industries (and percent of time

spent in each) are.

My reason for thinking this is very important is simply that I believe we

would discover significant overlap of workforce, as well as some

geographical surprises. Then all of us involved in " migrant health " or

" farmworker health " could design better programs and services, and assess

need more accurately, thanks to having a more comprehensive picture of the

population of interest, in our present world.

Just sharing thoughts -- would welcome yours. Tina

Tina Castañares

637 Highway 141

White Salmon, WA 98672

509 493-1600 voice and fax

tina.castanares@...

(I've deleted several messages from one of our recent digests, but retained

here those that were on this topic, below.)

_________________________________________

Message: 2

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 06:59:44 -0700

From: V Bletzer <keith.bletzer@...>

Subject: three-streams

Migrant.Health.Research.Network:

I have an interest in learning more about the development of the

three-stream concept. I am particularly interested in finding out about

the creation of the three-stream diagram that is source-dated as 1974 and

source-identified as the National Migrant Information Clearing House. What

role did the diagram play in the development of the three-stream concept

(or vice-versa)? Is the diagram's " branching " meant to depict streams?

Were there prior diagrams? This diagram often appeared in reports and

publications as late as the 1980s and early 1990s.

Thanks for suggestions and information.

V Bletzer. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Message: 3

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 07:17:27 -0800 (PST)

From: Louise Tokarsky <monjagitana@...>

Subject: Re: three-streams

In response to the inquiry about the three-stream

concept:

I, too, wondered how this concept came about. But

I haven't come across any information about how it was

developed (although I haven't really been looking).

Personally, I don't really think that there are three

streams. I think that, like so many other things, the

three stream way of thinking is arbitrary. It could

have been divided into four, or even five.

I would say that the movement is more circular,

like areas of rotation. The East Coast is fairly easy

to separate from other rotations because of the timing

of the growing seasons from north to south along the

coast. This is something I know from personal

experience. But the midwest (which I only know about

from reading other people's research) seems to be a

bit more complicated. It seems as if some people

there move in very wide circles, and others move in

very small circles. I would not say that the majority

of people there move in the same way. I think there's

a lot more to the movement there than the three-stream

concept can describe. I am not very familiar with the

movement around California, or the rest of the West

Coast, so I cannot say anything about that. But

there's nothing that says you can't devise a new

diagram to describe migrant movement. Perhaps its

time to create something that more accurately reflects

what is actually happening. After all, the three

stream concept seems, at least according to the

diagrams I've seen of it, to exclude the groups of

people working in the far northern regions of the U.S.

On the other hand, the benefits of thinking about it

in groups of three is that it's easier to organize

around it.

Louise Tokarsky-Unda

p.s.

The other day I saw a painting of Cesar Chavez which

was very interesting. It was being sold at a place

that specializes in religious items. The picture

portrayed Chavez with a halo of light behind his head.

He was holding the U.S. constitution and wearing a

shirt with the logo of the farm worker movement on it.

The halo, and the fact that this painting was being

sold at a religious store, suggest that Chavez is now

a religious figure. Does anyone know if there are any

people who believe that he is a saint? I'm just

curious.

Message: 4

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 10:40:12 -0500

From: " , " <kxw1@...>

Subject: RE: three-streams

You are so right - the streams are arbitrary. The were developed a couple

decades ago by the Department of Education - at least that is the earliest I

have found reference to a map - to provide a common language for discussion

of service delivery, data collection, and policy decitions. It was quite

logical to start withthe three biggest homebase states and move northward.

Clearly - things have changed! I have attached a jpeg of the 1989 map from

DOE.

Cheers - Kathi

-----Original Message-----

From: Louise Tokarsky [mailto:monjagitana@...]

Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 10:17 AM

Subject: Re: [ ] three-streams

In response to the inquiry about the three-stream

concept:

I, too, wondered how this concept came about. But

I haven't come across any information about how it was

developed (although I haven't really been looking).

Personally, I don't really think that there are three

streams. I think that, like so many other things, the

three stream way of thinking is arbitrary. It could

have been divided into four, or even five.

I would say that the movement is more circular,

like areas of rotation. The East Coast is fairly easy

to separate from other rotations because of the timing

of the growing seasons from north to south along the

coast. This is something I know from personal

experience. But the midwest (which I only know about

from reading other people's research) seems to be a

bit more complicated. It seems as if some people

there move in very wide circles, and others move in

very small circles. I would not say that the majority

of people there move in the same way. I think there's

a lot more to the movement there than the three-stream

concept can describe. I am not very familiar with the

movement around California, or the rest of the West

Coast, so I cannot say anything about that. But

there's nothing that says you can't devise a new

diagram to describe migrant movement. Perhaps its

time to create something that more accurately reflects

what is actually happening. After all, the three

stream concept seems, at least according to the

diagrams I've seen of it, to exclude the groups of

people working in the far northern regions of the U.S.

On the other hand, the benefits of thinking about it

in groups of three is that it's easier to organize

around it.

Louise Tokarsky-Unda

Message: 5

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 09:52:56 -0600

From: " Del " <dgarcia@...>

Subject: RE: three-streams

I agree that the stream division was a somewhat arbitrary. I do think that

anecdotally people from new york can state that they receive many migrants

from florida, for example. but migration is a much for complex activity.

MCN has outlined a different description of the functions that impact

migration. this model combines tenure (time spent migrating for farm labor)

social network (understanding and knowledge of communities and services) and

capital (money to sustain the migrant from point to point prior to earning

from agriculture). for a map and some discussion please go to the MCN

website at www.migrantclinician.org

del garcia

Message: 6

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 17:52:54 -0500 (EST)