Practicing Citizenship

Bolivian Migrant Identities and Spaces of Belonging in Washington DC

Bibliographic Data

ID3658717
AuthorsChristopher Strunk (corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume36
Issue5
Pages620-639
Publication date2015-09-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-6868 • E-ISSN: 1469-9540
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07256868.2015.1072910
OpenAlexW2229930018
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited49

Using a case study of Bolivian migrants in Washington DC, this article examines the contested nature of citizenship and construction of migrant identities. Bolivian migrants both reinforce and challenge the exclusionary nature of the US citizenship regime through practices and discourses that develop an expanded notion of belonging to communities in Washington DC and Cochabamba. While cultural activities such as soccer and folkloric dance fit easily within a multicultural framework of citizenship, they can also challenge accepted norms through quiet struggles over the control of public space. Bolivians employ language from the US immigrant rights movement that highlights their contributions to the USA and contrasts ‘good’ and ‘bad’ immigrants, but they also depart from mainstream discourses by describing local belonging in terms of transnational connections and contributions to Bolivian villages. Bolivian citizenship practices and narratives demonstrate how identities are always constructed simultaneously in multiple places even while migrant belonging is limited by restrictive immigration policies and irregular legal status

Aesthetics · Citizenship · Immigration · Mainstream · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub