AELLA Series: Citizenship, Global Capitalism and Transnational Communities
6:30 pm, Tuesday March 20, 2012
Rocío Gil and Howard Caro are going to present their dissertation projects regarding the migrant community of Santa María Tindú and the Ecuadorian and Dominican migrant political participation respectively. A discussion along with panelists and attendants on the topics of citizenship, globalization and transnationalism will follow afterwards.
Mixtec Geographies: Drawing the boundaries of Santa María Tindú – Rocío Gil, Anthropology-Graduate Center
Explores how the people of Santa María Tindú – a migrant community from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico – struggle to define their community and how they draw its boundaries to create a space of governmentality. Based on ethnographic research and on my collaboration in the process of a transnational census designed by Tindureños, I argue that Santa María Tindú is defined by two kinds of friction: on the one hand, their relation as migrants with global capital, and on the other, the tension in the definition of internal community boundaries. Both kinds of friction are shaped by inequalities that are simultaneously reproduced and contested in Tindureños’ everyday lives.
Strategic Citizenship: Dual Marginalization and Organized Transnational Political Engagement – Howard Caro-Lopez, Sociology-Graduate Center
Explores the impact that Ecuadorian and Dominican migrant civil society organizations in New York City have on migrants’ transnational political engagement and mobilization. Based on participant observation research of and in-depth interviews with multiple organization leaders and activists, I argue that these organizations attempt to mobilize voters and pursue political engagement through a phenomenon that I refer to as strategic citizenship. Strategic citizenship reflects how migrants struggle against multiple state elites to empower themselves in contemporary global capitalism, where they represent a critical vehicle for accumulation for sending and receiving nation-states.
