Cities and migrant transnational mobilization: a cross-movement and cross-context comparison

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper studies the dynamics of political mobilization of two transnational organizations – Assemblea Nacional Catalana and Marea Granate – formed by Spanish/Catalan migrants in different European cities. By conducting cross-organization and cross-city research, we analyze why and how migrants’ transnational networks perceive themselves to be stronger in some cities and weaker in others. This paper demonstrates that there is no one-size-fits-all mechanism that explains perceived organizational strength in all contexts. The same urban context might provide different opportunities and constraints depending on organizational characteristics of migrant movements. Our study shows the ways that organizations’ political agenda and their preferred action forms affect the perception of positionality as they navigate in different urban contexts with diverging national/local political settings, political cultures, civil society networks, and migration trajectories. The empirical data in this research stem from a content analysis of the events organized by the organizations and semi-structured in-depth interviews with organizations’ representatives.