Returning home in the La Costa Chiapas: El Madresal case through a transnational social resilience lens

Abstract

This paper tells the story of how a group of fishermen became resilient to face a community crisis in their village caused by the depletion of shrimp stocks, and how they are building transnational social resilience through the creation and operation of an Ecotourist resort to improve their lives, and insure their future well- being. Social change is taking place in some communities in the La Costa region of Chiapas, one of the most impoverished states in Mexico, where people opted to emigrate to the US and came back charged with individual and collective social remittances, new personal narratives which have helped them and their community adapt and change while constructing transnational lives. The development of El Centro Turístico El Madresal in Ponte Duro, Chiapas, provides an interesting case study in how to use the tools of social resilience conceptualization within a transnational context.