Summary
This research guide provides resources for entry-level research into maquiladoras (or maquilas). It links to resources available via UTRGV University Library and Special Collections and Archives in various formats and includes links to relevant external resources.
Background
The U.S. Government defines maquiladora as, "an entity located in Mexico that assembles and produces goods from imported parts for export to the United States." By relocating manufacturing operations to Mexico, U.S. and foreign companies can reduce costs, create jobs, and avoid restrictive compliance regulations that might exist in countries like the United States (Kurian, GT. 2013. AMACOM). The "maquiladora movement" gained popularity in the 1970s as an integral part of U.S./Mexico border infrastructure and technology commercialization.
However, the term applies more broadly to international business contexts, "The maquiladora or maquila is a type of industrialization model that generates foreign exchange, is cheap labor-intensive, and exports. Export Processing Zones (EPZ) were conceived as a new international division of labor in the late 1970s. Measured by its expansion, this industrial model has been a success, since in 1975 it included the participation of 25 countries, 79 zones, and 750,000 workers. By the early 2000s, there were 109 countries with more than 3,000 EPZs, and approximately 40 million employees, most of them in China." Read more: Keywords for Latina/o Studies, edited by Deborah R. Vargas, et al., New York University Press, 2017.
Maquiladoras gained negative attention in the 1980s for hazardous working conditions, low wages, little job security, toxic chemical exposure, as well as pollution, and hazardous waste. Maquilas traditionally rely on the employment of women and migrants as well as impoverished people.
