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

本研究研究移民通过参与跨国家乡协会（HTAs）在原籍国深化民主的条件。hta是移民公民社会的表现形式，研究的理论框架和经验框架都围绕着它展开。该研究假设，与那些与当地州和社区建立高度联系的hta相比，那些与当地州和社区建立高度联系的hta更有效地深化了民主。利用档案和半结构化访谈，从四个萨尔瓦多hta收集数据，说明它们与当地州和社区的联系，并通过项目和社会关系加以实施。对于每个HTA所服务的市政当局，本研究还收集了文献中关于民主深化的关键指标的数据：(i)健全的公民社会，（ii）积极的政治实践，（iii）提高国家透明度和问责制，（iv）减少不平等和社会排斥。在收集数据的10-15年中，本研究绘制了民主指标与HTA联系演变之间的交叉点图，以建立HTA干预与每个城市民主深化之间的相关性。更广泛的影响这项研究具有重要的广泛影响。最终，研究结果被推广到HTAs和萨尔瓦多之外，以揭示全球南方公民社会协会有效深化地方民主的机制，从而将个人从国家主体转变为高强度公民。研究结果通过超越制度设计问题，突出民间社会参与的基础机制，进一步加深了文献中关于民主深化的知识。研究结果还增加了关于跨国主义的社会学文献，阐明了移民如何作为跨国政治行动者动态参与，在东道国和家乡之间转移价值观和实践，并改变民主质量和公民观念。此外，hta是将微观社会学变量与关于公共领域的宏观社会学话语联系起来的有用工具。因此，本研究发展了公民身份的类型学，允许进行细致入微的分析，并理论化公民社会如何定位于-à-vis当地国家和社区以深化民主。因此，本研究将公民社会作为一个与当地国家和社区动态参与的关系概念进行了拆解。通过引入社区作为政治实践中的自主行动者，本研究还将讨论超越了传统的国家-公民社会关系二分法，呈现出民主的三维概念化，并跨越了社会科学的学科界限。

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.