Latina Spaces: Middle–Class Ethnic Capital and Professional Associations in the Latino Community

Abstract

This article examines the incorporation of middle–class Latinas in Southern California. Based on three years of participant observation, 30 in–depth interviews, and 50 conversational interviews with the organization's members, I find that the upwardly mobile Latinas mobilize “middle–class ethnic capital” to create professional associations in ethnic communities that provide valuable business skills, networks, and social capital to coethnics. Members of the organization realize that they must approximate the normative business standards of white middle–class business culture to get ahead, yet they feel that it is vital to retain their ethnic identity and provide resources to the ethnic community. While contemporary immigration research maintains the Latino ethnic communities lack the “high–quality resources” that might buffer against downward assimilation and advance upward mobility, these findings suggest that it takes one or two extra generations for Latinos to mobilize class and ethnic resources to promote mobility.