Doctoral Dissertation Research: Hometown Associations as Vehicles for Migrant Political Participation

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SES-0925776José Itzigsohn Daniela Villacrés Brown UniversityThis research studies the conditions under which migrants deepen democracy in their hometowns of origin through participation in transnational hometown associations (HTAs). HTAs are expressions of migrant civil society around which the research is framed theoretically and empirically. The study hypothesizes that HTAs which foster high degrees of linkage with their local states and with their communities more effectively deepen democracy than those which engender low degrees of linkage. Using archives and semi-structured interviews, data are collected from four Salvadoran HTAs on their linkages with their local states and communities, as operationalized though projects and social ties. For the municipalities served by each HTA, this study also gathers data on key indicators of democratic deepening theorized in the literature: (i) robust civil society, (ii) the active practice of politics, (iii) increased state transparency and accountability, and (iv) reduced inequality and social exclusion. Over the 10-15 years for which data are collected, this study maps points of intersection between democratic indicators and the evolution of the HTA's linkages to establish correlation between the HTA's intervention and democratic deepening in each municipality. Broader ImpactThis study has important wide-ranging impacts. Ultimately, findings are generalized beyond HTAs and El Salvador to uncover the mechanisms by which civil society associations in the global south effectively deepen democracy at the local level in order to transform individuals from subjects of the state into high-intensity citizens. Findings further knowledge in the literature on democratic deepening by going beyond issues of institutional design to highlight the mechanisms which underlie civil society's engagement. Findings also add to the sociological literature on transnationalism, illuminating how migrants engage dynamically as transnational political actors, transferring values and practices between the host country and hometown and transforming democratic quality and notions of citizenship. In addition, HTAs are useful tools through which to link micro-sociological variables to macro-sociological discourses about the public sphere. Thus, this study develops a typology of citizenship which allows for a nuanced analysis and theorizes how civil society is positioned vis-à-vis the local state and community to deepen democracy. Consequently, this study unpacks civil society as a relational concept which engages dynamically with the local state and community. By introducing community as an autonomous actor in the practice of politics, this study also moves the discussion beyond the traditional dichotomy of state-civil society relations to present a three-dimensional conceptualization of democracy and reachs across disciplinary boundaries in the social sciences.