Doctoral Dissertation Research: In the Name of Guadalupe: Politics and Citizenship among Mexicans in New York

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This study, to be conducted by a doctoral candidate of cultural anthropology at New York University, will examine the relationship between religiosity and emerging notions of citizenship among Mexicans in New York City. It will investigate the ways in which members of this population challenge dominant notions of citizenship and translate devotional practices into political activism. Specifically, this investigation examines Mexican immigrant involvement in non-profit organizations that have emerged from Catholic confraternities and subsequently converged into a citywide migrant association. The modes of social organization and discourses of participants in two parish-based confraternities and a city-wide non-profit umbrella organization are analyzed to test the hypothesis that members of these organizations are redefining rights, citizenship and identity by renegotiating the symbols of faith and nation, mobilizing the space of the church, and participating in activities normally reserved for citizens with typically material aims such as immigration rights, social services and political/economic equity. This study will contribute to anthropological theories on religion and transnational citizenship, and to an understanding of immigrant integration generally and Mexican-American integration specifically.