Abstract

SCHUTZE, Stephanie. The emergence of transnational political spaces. Etnográfica [online]. 2018, vol.22, n.1, pp.131-148. ISSN 0873-6561.  https://doi.org/10.4000/etnografica.5182.

This article retraces the ways in which politically-engaged Mexican migrant organizations from Chicago have contributed to the emergence of transnational political spaces since the late 1990s. The results of the underlying broad ethnographic study in Chicago and the Mexican state of Michoacán contribute to an understanding of transnational political spaces, based on the interplay of cross-border arenas of multifaceted political action. Mexican migrant organizations interact with their home communities, government agencies on both sides of the border and US civic organizations in civic and institutional political arenas. The ethnographic analysis highlights case-specific characteristics of transnational political spaces that are central to a more extensive theoretical understanding of transnationalization processes: “the local” as network of social relationships; the development of agency; political action in and beyond nation-state structures; and the intertwining of multifaceted interaction and communication arenas.

Keywords : political action; interaction and communication; Mexican migrant organizations; leadership.

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