Repatriation and the Politics of Space: the Case of the Mayan Diaspora and Return Movement

This paper explores the meanings of return and repatriation among Guatemalan refugees who are now returning from a decade of exile in Mexico. The analysis applies a transnational perspective which does not take the attachment of people to certain places and territories as a natural given. Rather, it is argued, the dynamics of flight and return should be explored in terms of the 'politics of space' of the nation state, that is, the development and application of techniques of power for the control of territories and populations.