POLITICAL PARTIES, IMMIGRATION, AND PANETHNICITY

Abstract

AbstractMost studies on panethnicity have focused on the United States, leaving researchers with little understanding of how it becomes institutionalized in areas with different racial politics and histories. Drawing on fifty-two in-depth interviews with Latin American immigrant leaders, political party operatives, and bureaucrats, in addition to fourteen weeks of participant observation, I examine the establishment of panethnic Latino coalitions in the Barcelona, Spain, which has witnessed a sharp increase in Latin American migration. I argue that unlike in the United States, in Spain political parties play a critical role in establishing panethnic coalitions. They do so by enabling the development of panethnic civic organizations that they hope will be politically loyal to them. Latin American immigrant leaders respond to these efforts by cooperating with parties while also resisting political pressure. Specifically, immigrant leaders forge networks with one another that cross party lines, use media to promote the nonpartisan aspects of panethnicity, and construct cultural and instrumental narratives about panethnic unity. These strategies help immigrant leaders weather political shifts and make panethnicity seem to have arisen organically. Panethnicity is forged as a strategic, cultural, and experiential form of community identification precisely through this interaction between parties, immigrant leaders, and media. Implications for understanding how panethnicity becomes institutionalized and avenues for further international research on panethnicity are discussed.