Ethnography of a social border: The case of an American retirement community in Mexico.

This is an ethnography of older Americans who move to a resort area in Mexico to retire. It first traces the emergence of a collective identity among the older movers and then describes the occasions and manner in which the migrants interact with the host community. Events in this setting draw attention to aspects of social identity, community creation and management of social life. In adapting to the host community these retirees 1) manage social relations among themselves by recreating the social forms and world view of their homeland; 2) modify traditional American behavior and cultural symbols in response to the features and demands of the external environment; and 3) manipulate relations with the host community so as to preserve their privileged life style. When the research focus shifts from the internal dimensions of community life to the arenas of interaction with the host community, age is of less social significance than migrancy as an ordering principal of social life.