ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the function and spreading out of the rhetoric of 'development' and 'progress' in perpetuating structures, asymmetries and differentiations transnationally within the era of neoliberal governance. It presents the reflection of the transnationalisation of informality and of social structures and hierarchies, but also an invitation to further debate the different interpretations of 'progress' and the paths and alternatives being constructed away from a capitalist and colonialist rationale. Clientelism mixes symbolic and rhetoric elements to reinforce the functioning of the geographies of power. Many Mezcalenses are crossing the border due to economic, political, social and individual factors, but also social constructions, and the influx of ideas and values have come to reinforce this flow. Migrants have been establishing their relations with the Mexican and US governments, and transnationally, responding to the relationship between both countries and the historical political economic processes in a global context informed by and legitimised through the rhetoric of development.
