Constructing Transnational Political Spaces

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Stephanie Schütze

   Pages 1-20

3. Transnational Political Spaces Between Mexico and the USA

   • Stephanie Schütze

   Pages 21-42

4. Transnational Communities and Political Influence Between Chicago and Michoacán

   • Stephanie Schütze

   Pages 43-74

5. Political Trajectories of Migrant Leaders

   • Stephanie Schütze

   Pages 75-110

6. Mexican Migrant Organizations in Chicago and Their Political Arenas

   • Stephanie Schütze

   Pages 111-148

7. The Emergence of Transnational Political Spaces

   • Stephanie Schütze

   Pages 149-163

8. Back Matter

   Pages 165-178

   PDF

This book analyzes Mexican migrant organizations in the US and their political influence in home communities in Mexico. By connecting multifaceted arenas of Mexican migrant’s activism, it traces the construction of transnational political spaces. The author's ethnographic work in the state of Michoacán and in Chicago shows how these transnational arenas overcome the limits of traditional political spaces - the nation state and the local community - and bring together intertwined facets of ‘the political'. The book examines how actors engage in politics within transnational spaces; it delineates the different trajectories and agendas of male and female, indigenous and non-indigenous migrant activists; it demonstrates how the local and actor-centered levels are linked to the regional or state levels as well as to the federal levels of politics; and finally, it shows how these multifaceted arenas constitute transnational spaces that have implications for politics and society in Mexico andthe US alike.

• migration
• political transnationalism
• hometown associations
• migrant organizations
• political spaces
• latin american politics

“The book provides insights into complex translocal political arenas and an intriguing topic that is not likely to decrease in relevance over the coming years … . By identifying central arenas and agents of a surging transnational political space, the book will be helpful as a source of inspiration to students and scholars planning to do fieldwork on transnational political processes between Latin America and North America.” (Casper Jacobsen, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, Vol. 7 (3), September, 2017)

• Lateinamerika-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

  Stephanie Schütze

Stephanie Schütze is Associate Professor for Anthropology with a specialization in gender and migration studies at the Lateinamerika-Institut of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. She has conducted research on political culture, social movements, and migration in diverse contexts and in various regions: the Mexican states of Guerrero and Michoacán, Mexico City, Chicago, and recently in Brazil. 

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