Transnational Citizenries: Reflections from the Field in California

Abstract

This essay explores new patterns of public life emerging with the growing assertion of rights by Mexican first-generation immigrants to the United States. It relies on a definition of citizenship as our relationship to public institutions. Among other consequences, this view directs our attention to the implications of 'transnational citizenries' for public institutions within the boundaries of the nation-state. The study examines a California town's response to an April 2001 raid by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) which targeted a new population of indigenous immigrants from southern Mexico. The analysis emphasizes (1) the re-emerging significance of labor movements for citizenship development in the US; (2) the appearance of several new transnational or bi-national citizenries; and (3) a distinctive pattern of bifurcation and change in public organizations that are confronted by the increased complexity of citizenship in 'overlapping societies'.