Immigrant Political Incorporation : The Role of Hometown Associations

Vonderlack-Novarro examines Chicago's coalition of first-generation Mexican hometown associations and their rocky path towards U.S. political inclusion moving from the mass immigrant marches of 2006 to the U.S. presidential elections of 2008. While hometown associations have been known as transnational organizations influenced by the Mexican government, by 2008 U.S. voting drives were a central strategy. The strategy, however, came with costs: weakening the will to mobilize for marches, internal fragmentation between leaders as they vied for recognition with stronger organizations and government leaders, and a political context that offered few concessions towards immigrants along with intensified national and local repression.