Mapping Dominican transnationalism: narrow and broad transnational practices

Jos Itzigsohn, Carlos Dore Cabral, Esther Hern ndez Medina and Obed V zquez
Abstract
This article maps the structure for understanding the Dominican transnational eld. By transnational eld we refer to a web of linkages that affects the lives of Dominicans in their places of residence in every social eld. We nd that social boundaries of the nation do not coincide with political ones and the degree of participation in transnational exchanges varies. We suggest that the structure of the transnational social eld is better understood by establishing and de ning broad and narrow transnational social practices . Keywords: Transnationalism; immigration; Dominicans; linkages; institutions; communities.

While standing in line to check in for a ight to Santo Domingo, one of the authors was approached by a woman who asked if he could carry a bag for her. The airline claimed she was carrying too much baggag e already, but she needed to take everything with her because she had a little shop in Santo Domingo and these were goods to stock it. Everyone ying to Santo Domingo has stood in the long lines of people carrying many large bags. Some of the people make these trips in a periodic way as a form of living, but for most, the many bags are the norm as part of their annual homecomings. These bags contain many gifts for their family, goods to sell which help nance their trip, items for the houses they are building in the Dominican Republic, or a combination of all three. These recurrent airport scenes are one expression of the strong links that unite the island and its diaspora. The links, are not, however, only personal or economic. The Dominican congress currently has a representative of the Dominican community in New York. He was elected according to current laws, appearing in the lists of representatives of a

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Dominican city. But debates in the Dominican Republic over the extension of the right to vote for Dominicans abroad are far from settled. These examples illustrate an existing Dominican transnational social eld. This transnational social eld can be thought of as a eld of social interactions and exchanges that transcend political and geographica l boundaries of one nation and have become the relevant eld of action and reference for a large number of Dominicans in their country of origin and in the broad diaspora that it has generated. Many Dominicans have a deep involvement in these links and exchanges, whereas others participate in them only occasionally. Some members of this transnational community engage in economic exchanges; some are part of its political links, others only experience the transnational eld in a symbolic way, as part of their space of meaningful references. Nevertheless, few Dominicans are untouched by the existence of this transnational eld of social relations. The goal of this article is to contribute to our understanding of the structure and workings of this transnational social field through the analysis of the dynamics of Dominican transnationalism. Throughout this essay we attempt to map out the different linkages that pattern this community. We propose to distinguish between narrow and broad forms of transnationality as two poles along a continuum of different forms of transnational practices. These poles are distinguished by three factors: the degree of institutionalization of various practices, the degree of involvement of people in the transnational field, and the degree of movement of people within the transnational geograph ical space. Expanding the boundaries of the nation Until recently, studies of immigrant communities were focused mainly on the processes of incorporation and acculturation of immigrants, and limited to the ethnic communities they created in the host societies. The concept of transnational social elds arises to describe immigrant communities that do not delink themselves from their home country; instead, they keep and nourish their linkages to their place of origin. This is not an unheard of phenomenon, nor a new one, but progress in communication and transportation technologie s have allowed for an increasing intensity and immediacy to those linkages (Portes 1996). The emergence of transnation al social elds challenges the accepted boundaries in the study of political participation, social mobility and identity formation as these processes take place across national boundaries rather than within them. The current work on transnationalism was given impulse by the pioneering work of Glick Schiller, Basch and Blanc-Szanton (1992). They de ned transnationalism as the processes by which immigrants forge and

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sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement (Basch, Glick Schiller, and Blanc-Szanton, 1994, p. 7) Transnationalism is a product of the present conditions of global capitalism and the type of relations between labour and capital that it generates. The transnational social eld is constructed through the daily life and activity of immigrants affecting all aspects of their life, from their economic opportunities, to their political behaviour, to their individual and group identities. Alejandro Portes (1996) provides another look at this phenomenon. For Portes, transnationalism is focused mainly on economic activities. Transnational activities constitute a form of grass-roots alternative to the debasement of immigrant labour in the centre of the world system. Confronted with low-paid dead-end jobs, immigrants use their social relations from their place of origin and their place of migration to build economic enterprises that operate across borders. A central characteristic of these enterprises is that their existence is dependent on the continuation of the transnational linkage. The work of other scholars has added to the conceptualization and understanding of transnational communities. Smith (1994, 1998) explored the linkages between the town of Ticuani, in the Mexican state of Puebla, and the migrants from this town who live in New York City. Smith shows the construction of a close-knit community, organized along the lines of traditional social organization and communal obligations, but geographica lly split between Mexico and the United States. Kyle (1995) studied the migration networks between Ecuadorians in New York and several Ecuadorian towns, indicating how the organization of the movement of people is superimposed on existing networks for the movement of goods between Ecuador and the United States. Migration and transnation alism among Dominicans Throughout its history, the Caribbean Basin has witnessed constant migration ows, and until the 1960s the Dominican Republic was mainly an immigrant receiving country. In the last three decades, however, the Dominican Republic has become one of the main emigration countries in the Caribbean Basin and in Latin America in general. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS], during the 1980s Dominicans ranked seventh in the number of people admitted to the United States (251,803). During the 1990s Dominicans ranked in the top ve nationalities in the number of immigrants admitted, following countries with much larger populations, such as Mexico, the Philippines, China and Vietnam (http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/public/stats). The large size of the migration ows, and the relatively short period of time in which they occurred, caused a large transformation in Dominican society, making the Dominican case a paradigmatic one for the study

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of the rise of transnation alism. Dominican migrants are found all over the world, from Antigua to Madrid, from Caracas to Alaska. The main centre of Dominican migration, however, is New York City. The scholarly literature on Dominican migration can be divided into three stages, documenting the changes in the characteristics of this migration. The rst stage occurs during the 1970s and early 1980s when the Dominican Republic was a model for the study of migration as labour ows. Migration was perceived as a strategy of the rural and urban poor in search of economic advancement. Several case-studies of rural communities in the Dominican Republic looked for factors that motivated the migration ow and its social and economic impact (Hendricks 1974; Bray 1984; Del Castillo & Murphy 1987). The 1980s brought a new stage in the study of Dominican migration distinguished by the study of the characteristics of the Dominican community in the United States, particularly in New York City. These included the work of Gurak and Kritz (1982) analysing the role of kinship networks, that of Pessar (1984, 1985) on the gender dynamic of migrant households and the work of Georges (1988) on Dominican associations in New York City. These studies began to look at the Dominican community as an ethnic enclave, with a certain degree of internal social strati cation. During this stage we also begin to see studies covering Dominicans on the island and the continent. The study of Grassmuck and Pessar (1991) on two communities in the Dominican Republic (one urban and one rural) and its emigrated members in New York City, and that of Georges (1990) on the effects of migration on a rural community, are an indication of the growing consciousness about the transnational phenomenon.1 It is in the current stage of the study of Dominican migration that we see a focus on transnationality. The work of Portes and Guarnizo (1991) initiated a series of studies on this topic. This work shows the emergence of an entrepreneu rial class, part of which owes its existence to its constant travel between the Dominican Republic and the United States. This entrepreneurial class uses its social networks to gain information and contacts that allow it to conduct business between the two countries, sometimes in a formal and sometimes in an informal way. Several scholars have studied different aspects of Dominican transnationalism. Duany (1994) analyses the cultural aspects of Dominican transnationality, showing how immigrants recreate Dominican life in New York City while they also incorporate elements of American culture to their cultural repertories. Guarnizo (1992, 1994) wrote on Dominican entrepreneurs in New York and on the binational character of the New York Dominican community. Guarnizos most recent work (1998) focuses on the forms of political participation of transmigrants and on state responses to the rise of transnational communities. Graham (1997) makes the connections between transnational and local political participation

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among Dominicans in New York City, focusing on the parallel struggle by Dominican organizations that lobbied for the legislation of double citizenship by the Dominican government and the creation of a Dominican district in New York City council elections. Levitt (1997, 1998) analyses organizational and value changes in Dominican community, political, and religious organizations and institutions as a result of their expansion over national boundaries. The increasing interest in Dominican transnationality is the result of the changes experienced by the Dominican diaspora. This diaspora grew exponentiall y during the 1980s, and has developed a certain degree of social differentiation and institutional density that accounts for the rise of transnational connections (Guarnizo 1994). In addition, migrant remittances have become one of the main sources of hard currency of the island (Itzigsohn 1995). The consolidation of competitive politics during the 1980s and 1990s generated a need for political fundraising. Dominicans abroad became an important source of nance for Dominican political parties. Grahams (1997) informants estimate that fundraising in the United States provides between 10 and 15 per cent of Dominican parties campaign funds. The studies mentioned above have no doubt greatly increased our understanding of Dominican transnation ality. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered, partly due to the lack of empirical data, and partly because the conceptualization of transnational communities needs to be tightened. Is transnationalism mainly an economic phenomenon, or is it a social eld that affects all aspects of life, such as group and individual identities and symbolic practices? Are transnational migrants only those involved in continuous dealings between the two countries, or are all the people involved in a broad social eld? Does transnationality refer mainly to a diaspora condition, or does it also include the people that remain in the home country? Finally, is there any spatial centre or order in this transnational community? Searching for a transnational social eld This study is part of the rst phase of a larger comparative study of transnational communities. The goal of this phase was to explore the different practices that sustain the transnational social eld. For this purpose we conducted a total of eighty-three interviews with key informants in two locations in the United States, New York City and Providence, Rhode Island; and in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. Table 1 presents a description of our interviewee s. We selected two locations in the United States to achieve a broad view of the existing transnational practices. New York City was chosen because it has the largest concentration of Dominicans abroad, and is the second largest Dominican city after Santo Domingo, the capital city of

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Table 1. Breakdown of interviews with key informants by place and gender

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New York 22 10 Providence 19 3 Men Women

United States

Dominican Republic

23 7

the Dominican Republic. Dominicans have settled in every borough of New York City. However, our interviews were restricted to the area of Washington Heights in upper Manhattan where the largest concentration of Dominicans is located. While New York City has by far the largest concentration of Dominican immigrants, the trend has been towards the deconcentration of the population. Providence, RI, is one of several places of secondary migration for Dominicans, where the Dominican community is playing an increasingly important role in city life. The study of Providence allows us to look at the increasingly growing phenomenon of residential deconcentration among Dominicans. Table 2 presents an overview of the evolution of the Dominican population in New York City and Providence. We selected the informants by looking for people with a central position and a broad knowledge of the community. We selected the rst informants based on our knowledge of the communities, and we followed a series of snowball-chains after that. Most of the respondents in the United States were rst-generation immigrants with the exception of two cases who were second-gene ration Dominicans. In the Dominican Republic the majority of the interviews were conducted in Santo Domingo, with the exception of two interviews that took place in Santiago. Six of the interviews in the Dominican Republic were with NorthAmericans linked to different US institutions in the country. The interviews were semi-structured and followed an interview guide that served to direct the conversation. The research design and the analysis are qualitative, pointing to trends in transnational practices, and suggesting paths for further research. Towards a comprehensive understanding of Dominican transnational practices One of the main problems in our understanding of transnational communities is who to include and what type of practice should be considered transnational. There are currently two main answers to this question. Portes (1996) includes only those people engaged in recurrent binationa l dealings and focuses mainly on economic aspects. Basch, Glick Schiller, and Szanton-Blanc (1994) are more inclusive, including

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Table 2. Selected demographic data for Dominicans in Providence, Rhode Island and New York City, 1990, 1985 Rhode Island 1990 All Dominicans Native Born % of all Dominicans Born in State of Residence % of all Dominicans Born in Different State % of all Dominicans Foreign Born % of all Dominicans Naturalized % of all Dominicans Not a Citizen % of all Dominicans 1985 Mobility All Dominicans (5 yrs and older) Same State Different State Abroad
Source : 1990 Census

Providence

Manhattan

New York City 332,71 3 100% 95,492 28.70% 85,841 25.80% 2,139 0.64% 237,221 71.30% 60,976 18.33% 176,245 52.97% 299,48 2 100% 243,45 5 81.29% 3,356 1.12% 52,799 17.63%

9,374 100% 2,940 31.30% 1,868 19.90% 1,072 11.40% 6,434 68.60% 1,409 21.90% 5,025 78.10% 8,333 100% 4,481 53.70% 1,715 20.50% 1,861 22.30%

7,973 100% 2,361 29.60% 1,244 15.60% 931 11.60% 5,612 70.40% 1,266 15.80% 4,346 54.50% 7,083 100% 3,853 54.40% 1,324 18.70% 1,906 26.90%

136,69 6 100% 37,905 27.73% 34,901 25.53% 654 0.48% 98,791 72.27% 24,307 17.78% 74,484 54.49% 124,23 3 100% 103,74 4 83.51% 1,067 0.86% 19,422 15.63%

in the transnational eld everyday social practices that affect a range from economic opportunities to the choice of identities . Portes understanding of transnationalism is very important, because it focuses on one of the most innovative and dynamic phenomena: the rise of transnational enterprises. This new form of entrepreneu rship affects a large number of social processes, from macro processes of national developmen t, to the options for social mobility open to individuals. It has limitations, however, since it leaves out relevant practices that should be considered transnational. Recalling the long lines at the airports, only a few of the people waiting there engage in recurrent travelling to supply their businesses. These would be transnation al entrepreneurs according to Portes. Most of the people in line, however, travel only once or twice a year to the Dominican Republic, but every time they travel they carry those large and heavy bags lled with gifts or goods to sell, or both. It is not their way of making a living, but it is a regular and recurrent practice.

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The understanding of Basch et al. helps us to include a number of practices under the transnational label. It suffers, though, from being too unspeci ed. After all, there is a difference between those who engage in constant travel and business in both countries and those who see themselves as Dominicans in the United States and long for the homeland that they may never have seen. We believe that both are part of a transnational eld, but this transnational eld should be further speci ed. The economic and everyday-pra ctices perspectives are not necessarily in opposition. Mahler (1998) points to the need for mapping transnational practices and suggests a differentiation between those who move frequently, those who move every so often, and those whose lives take place within a transnational eld. We want to pursue Mahlers suggestion and propose to differentiate between narrow and broad transnational practices. We want to consider narrow and broad transnational practices as two poles of a continuum de ned by the degree of institutionalization, degree of movement within the transnational eld, or the degree of involvement in transnational activities. Transnationality in a narrow sense refers to those people involved in economic, political, social, or cultural practices that involve a regular movement within the geographic transnation al eld, a high level of institutionalization, or constant personal involvement. Transnationality in a broad sense refers to a series of material and symbolic practices in which people engage that involve only sporadic physical movement between the two countries, a low level of institutionalization, or just occasional personal involvement, but nevertheless includes both countries as reference points. In fact, each of these dimensions institutionalization, involvement, and movement de nes its own continuum, creating three parallel continua. Table 3 illustrates this idea. In many cases, transnational practices are at the narrow end of the continuum in all three of these dimensions. Nevertheless, as will be shown below, some transnational practices can be considered narrow only on one or two of the classi catory dimensions. For our conceptualization, it is enough for a transnational activity to be narrow along two of these three dimensions to be considered a form of narrow transnationality. Table 4 maps transnation al activities and illustrates both narrow and broad forms of transnationality. The examples refer to activities in the United States, but we argue that there are also examples of transTable 3. Dimensions of narrow and broad transnationality Narrow High Constant Regular Transnational practice s Institutionalizatio n Participation Movement Broad Low Occasional Sporadic

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Table 4. Narrow and broad transnationality among Dominicans Transnationality activity Economic Political Civil-Societal Cultural Narrow Transnational rms Membership in Dominican political parties in the US Membership in Town Committees Participating in Dominican cultural production from the US Broad Carrying bags full of merchandise on occasional trips Participating in electora l meetings in the US Participating in occasional bene t activities for the Dominican Republic De ning oneself as part of Dominican diaspora

Note: The examples in each cell are illustrations of the kind of practices we have in mind. This is not an exhaustive table.

nationalism in the Dominican Republic. We divide Dominican transnational practices into four categories: economic, political, civil-societal and cultural practices, and then position these within our analytical scheme. The divisions are, however, sometimes arbitrary. For example, is fundraising for a political party a political or an economic practice? Indeed, at times, the same people often engaged in transnational activities are included under different categories. Nevertheless, the clarity of our analysis will bene t from this division. Thus, for our analytical purpose we shall classify activities according to their main goal, such that fundraising for a political party will be considered a political activity. Our use of civil-societal covers those community practices in the religious, sports, or mutual-help elds that are not mainly political or market oriented. This avoids labelling these practices as merely social, since political and economic practices are certainly social practices. It would be a mistake, for example, to think about economic transnational practices as purely market oriented. Transnational economic practices are embedded in complex transnation al social and political networks and, as such, are indivisible from civil society. Nevertheless, for the sake of analytical clarity, we shall maintain this division. Finally, by cultural practices, we refer to symbolic practices, such as the formation of identities, tastes and values. Consider the case of a Dominican student in an American university: The head is here, but the heart is there, she claims. This student, who was born in the United States, hopes to pursue a political career there and argues that she could not live in the Dominican Republic because she is too accustomed to the ways things are done in the US. Yet she claims in the same breath that it is only in the Dominican Republic that she feels at home. Her everyday life takes place in the

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United States but her identity, and the eld of relevant symbolic references, includes the Dominican Republic in a very meaningful way. She is part of broad transnational space, but does not take part in the narrow transnational activities that sustain and fuel it.

Economic transnationality
Narrow economic transnationalism: This category includes immigrants who have businesses in the United States and also invest in the Dominican Republic and Dominican rms that branch out to the United States. The most thorough study so far is the work of Portes and Guarnizo (1991). These researchers uncovered in the Dominican Republic the presence of a large number of small and medium rms linked to migration. This research rejected the idea that the only economic contribution of emigrants is their remittances and that those are used only for consumption purposes. Our interviews in the Dominican Republic revealed that our informants are well aware of the presence of emigrant-created rms, pointing out that most of these rms are in the service, retail sectors. According to our informants, the main types of migration linked businesses in the service sector are moving and remittances companies, small loan and investment rms called nancieras, laundries, car-repair shops and carwash businesses. In the retail sector, most of the investments by transmigrants are concentrated in supermarkets and colmados (small neighbourh ood grocery stores similar to New York bodegas). There is also some investment in construction rms. A new form of business link is between remittances companies and commercial rms. This arrangement allows Dominicans in the United States to send remittances to their relatives, but the latter, instead of receiving money receive consumption goods such as ovens or washing machines. The picture we received in our interviews in the United States concerning the investment areas of transnational rms is similar to what we encountered in the Dominican Republic. Two of our informants were engaged in narrow economic transnational activities. The manager of an of ce of a large remittance agency told us that the owners of the agency have businesses in Santo Domingo and have opened the agency as a way of obtaining hard currency. The other informant owns a nancial and insurance investment company on Wall Street and owns a C-town Supermarket in Manhattan, which are managed by relatives, while he lives and operates an insurance business in Santiago. These examples of narrow economic transnational practices are characterized by a high degree of institutionalization and constant involvement in businesses in both places. In some cases these transnational rms involve regular movement between the two countries, but this is not always the case. In many instances the administration of businesses in one of the two countries is

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delegated to family members, and in the case of the larger formal rms, to professional managers . Transnational businesses are not limited to well-established formal rms. There is also a large informal transnational trade. An example of this kind of trade is the case of the woman we met at the beginning of this article who travels back and forth to stock her business. There are also a number of people who make a living out of travelling back and forth selling goods both in the Dominican Republic and the United States. Most of our informants in the Dominican Republic claimed to know personally one or more of these informal transnational traders. From the United States, these traders carry mainly non-durable consumer goods such as clothes (new and used), shoes and jewelry. Traders sell these goods in markets all around the Dominican Republic. The goods brought to the United States are consumer goods, typically Dominican products, such as Dominican rum, sausages, Dominican sweets and even traditional medicines and local brands of over-thecounter drugs that people are familiar with. According to our informants, the frequency of these trips is between once a month and once in three months. Their economic advantage comes from the non-payment of custom taxes. It is important to note that this itinerant trade is not a new phenomenon in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean. Indeed, we can nd people conducting the same type of trade between the Dominican Republic and several islands of the Caribbean. What is particular about our cases is the large volume of the trade, and the fact that what is traded on the American end are culturally de ned Dominican goods, which helps sustain the transnational Dominican cultural eld. What characterizes these informal narrow transnational economic practices is a constant personal involvement and regular movement within the transnational space, but these practices show a low degree of institutionalization. Our interviews revealed the existence of a considerable segment of transnational rms in a narrow sense which concurs with the research of Portes and Guarnizo (1991). However, there are no data on the extension and importance of this sector. We do not know the contribution of this type of investment to the Dominican GDP, or to employment creation, nor do we know how many of the Dominican business people in the United States also engage in transnational investment. Most of the Dominican businesses we encountered both in New York City and Providence are small businesses in the service sector: bodegas, restaurants, boutiques, beauty-parlours, car-repair shops, remittance agencies and legal and tax service agencies. Many of our informants argued that besides the remittances and moving agencies, Dominican business people are not engaged in transnational rms of the type described above, although they may very well engage in broad economic transnational practices.

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Broad economic transnationalism: Broad economic transactions are those that are more or less recurrent, but do not involve regular movement or constant involvement between the two places. Perhaps the most distinct case is that of the remittances sent home by immigrants. These have become the second main source of hard currency for the Dominican Republic, and a necessary source of income for a large number of people (Itzigsohn 1995). The words of the Dominican Consul in New York in a celebration of the Dominican independen ce day in Providence highlight the importance of remittances in the structure of the Dominican transnational eld. Consul Bienvenido Perez argued that Dominican immigrants should not be called absent Dominicans(Dominicanos ausentes ), as they often are, but Dominicanos abroad ( Dominicanos en el exterior). This was so, according to the Consul, because Dominicans abroad are always present by means of the remittances they send which are indispensable for the economic survival of the country. Another form of broad economic transnationality is carrying bags full of merchandise on trips to the Dominican Republic. This is done by almost all Dominicans who travel, and according to our interviews, most Dominicans in the United States travel rather regularly to the island. The merchandise, however, has different purposes: sometimes it consists of gifts for the family, sometimes it is for the family to sell and in this way help the family economy, or it might be to sell and help nance the trip and even make some pro t. By carrying or sending consumer goods from abroad to the island, transmigrants provide the low-income sectors with access to consumer goods that these sectors could not buy with their local income. Prominent among these are durable consumer goods, such as TVs, VCRs, video cameras and video games, and also non-durable consumer goods such as clothing and footwear. Commonly found in households, these goods are one of the main contributions that Dominicans abroad have made to the standard of living of their relatives and friends. Among the middle classes, it is popular to send cars and computers. Dominican transmigrants also invest in building houses or buying businesses as a form of building assets for eventual retirement. Many of our informants have houses, tracts of land, or small businesses that are tended to by family or friends, or maintained idle waiting for their owners to return. Consider the case of Juan, who has lived fteen years in Providence. Juan had some university training when he migrated, but in all his years in the United States he has been a factory worker. Nevertheless, Juan has saved enough money to buy land near his home town in the Dominican Republic. Juan has also bought a number of cows, currently kept by his father. The goal of Juans investment is not to make a living out of his investment, but to have some assets for an eventual retirement home. Whether Juan will retire in the Dominican Republic

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is an open question. The fact is that the desire to return leads a large number to invest money in businesses and real estate in the Dominican Republic. One difference between these investments and those included in the narrow category is on the future orientation of these broad economic transnational transactions. The goal of these broad investments is not necessarily immediate subsistence but old-age insurance although they often create sources of livelihood for people in the Dominican Republic, having an effect also on immediate subsistence. Another difference is that broad transnational economic practices also have symbolic meanings. They contribute to sustaining the emotional linkage between Dominicans abroad and in the Dominican Republic, and to strengthening the Dominicanness of transmigrants.

Political transnationality
Narrow political transnationalis m: Narrow political transnationalism can best be seen in membership and activism in Dominican political parties which have branches in US cities where there is a Dominican presence. The most visible political organizations are the three largest Dominican parties: the governing Partido de Liberacion Dominicana [PLD Dominican Liberation Party], the largest opposition party, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano [PRD Dominican Revolutionary Party], and the party of former president Joaquin Balaguer, Partido Reformista Social Cristiano [PRSC Social Christian Reformist Party]. The rst two parties have of ces in New York and Providence. The presence of the PRSC, though, has diminished after they were forced out of government, so much so, that we did not nd an of ce of the party in New York or Providence. The main activities of these parties are fundraising meetings. Indeed, Dominicans in the United States are a very important source of funding for political parties. During election periods, activities increase and a great number of campaign meetings take place. Both main candidates in the 1996 presidential election, current president Leonel Fernandez and PRD candidate, the late Jos F. Pea Gmez, conducted campaigns in New York and Providence, searching for political support and participating in fundraisers. Graham (1997) estimates that between 10 and 15 per cent of the campaign funds is raised in the United States. Our informants did not provide a speci c percentage, but stressed that the Dominican community in the United States is a very important source of funds. Dominican politicians argue that the opinions of Dominican transmigrants are important in in uencing the voting decisions of Dominicans on the island. One prominent politician we interviewed argued that this is because many Dominicans in the Dominican Republic believe that Dominicans in the United States are better informed. According to this informant, when a Dominican from the United States goes back home, he (in this case the informant referred to men) has money to invite

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people to eat and drink, and when he expresses his political preference, that opinion carries great weight. The same politician added that the dependence of many people on remittances also adds weight to the political opinions of transmigrants. This political in uence, real or assumed, expands the eld of transnational political competition. Parties compete for funds and support in New York and New England, as well as in Santo Domingo and Santiago.Thi s competition will certainly increase if the current debates on the right to vote for Dominicans abroad leads to favourable constitutional changes. Representation of the Dominican community in the Dominican legislature is perhaps the most clear example of narrow political transnationalism. The PLD decided to include a member of its New York branch in its congressional lists for the rst time in the 1996 election. This candidate, however, had to be included in the lists of candidates from Santiago, his home town, since there is no institutional mechanism for electing representatives abroad. This member of parliament expressed to us his hope that representation from abroad will increase in the future, since such an increase would make it easier for him to put forward the needs of his constituency. In addition, the current president, Leonel Fernandez grew up in New York City and had close relations with the New York branch of the PLD. After his victory, numerous members of the PLD in the United States were rewarded with positions in public administration in the Dominican Republic. Also for the rst time, the New York Consul and his top assistants are members of the New York community, rather than people sent from the Dominican Republic. It appears from our interviews and observations that the Dominican consulate in New York has now become much more responsive to the needs of that community than in the past, and its administration is much more transparent. All these point to the increasing participation and weight of transmigrants in Dominican politics and public administration. These cases of narrow transnationality are based on a high level of institutionalization and in constant involvement on transnational activities. Sometimes they also involve regular movement between the two countries, but that is not always the case. For example, transmigrants can be members of a Dominican party, spend large amounts of time, effort and money on its activities, but not travel regularly to the Dominican Republic. Yet, they are transnational activists. Broad political transnationality: One of the most common expressions of broad political transnationality is the transmigrants interest in electoral politics. During elections, Dominicans who may otherwise not be very involved in the Dominican political scene become passionate supporters or opponents of particular candidates. The corners of St. Nicholas Ave, and those of Broadway in upper Manhattan, are the settings for passionate political arguments, and motor caravans organized by the different political parties clog the main streets of the Dominican neighbourhood s.

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The Dominican broad political transnational eld is, however, richer and more interesting than the occasional electoral participation. In 1994 the Dominican state granted the right to double citizenship for Dominicans abroad, and by this act expanded the scope of the transnational political eld. This action was, in part, the result of pressures by Dominicans in the United States who were reluctant to naturalize because it meant the loss of Dominican citizenship; but the decision to extend double citizenship was also the result of an understanding on the part of Dominican politicians of the dependence of the country on the wellbeing of Dominicans abroad; on their ability to send remittances. That realization led Dominican political parties to encourage Dominicans to naturalize and participate in the American political process. In recent years large numbers of Dominicans have naturalized, and Dominican participation in American politics has indeed increased. While mainly a reaction to the recent anti-immigration policies of the United States government, the recognition of double citizenship by the Dominican government has certainly helped. This increase in participation has yielded results. In 1992 New York Citys rst Dominican councilman, Guillermo Linares, was elected, and in 1996 Adriano Espaillat was the rst Dominican to be elected as state representative. In Providence, a Dominican candidate lost the election to the city council by only eleven votes. Dominican parties, as such, have not taken part in these elections, but many of their members have participated actively in the efforts to increase Dominican political representation in the United States. If the Dominican state nally grants the right to vote to Dominicans abroad, it will also expand the transnational political eld. According to our informants, the current terms of the debate exclude the possibility of voting for president, since Dominican politicians do not want the presidential election to be decided abroad. What is currently being discussed is the creation of formal representation for transmigrants, creating a kind of overseas electoral district, which would allow Dominicans abroad to vote for their representatives to the Dominican congress. If the idea is accepted, it would raise a number of very interesting organizational questions: how many representatives would Dominicans abroad have? How would the overseas geographical representation be divided? Would New York represent New England, or would every region in the United States have its own representatives? And what about the expanding Dominican diaspora outside the United States, in countries such as Spain, Italy and Venezuela?

Civil-societal transnationalism
Narrow civil-societal transnationality: Several transnational initiatives , grass roots or institutional, that are not mainly economic or political, are

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included in this category. The most common form of organization is the town association; that is, associations created by people from a certain town or region that gather to socialize and to help their town or village. There are numerous organizations of this type in New York City, but none currently in Providence although there have been a few in the past. The alleged reason for the current absence of this type of organization is the lack of critical mass from any particular place. In the Dominican Republic there are a few organizations of people that have lived abroad, such as the Fundacion para la Defensa de Dominicanos Residents en el Exterior (Foundation for the Defence of Dominicans Living Abroad). Besides serving as a focus for socialization, this organization has goals that range from the improvement of the local image of Dominicans living abroad which associates Dominicans abroad with the drug trade, prostitution, and ostentatiou s behaviour to assisting returning immigrants, particularly those who want to invest in the Dominican Republic business world. That is, the goals range from the cultural to the economic, and address speci c needs of returning Dominicans to the Dominican Republic, who have already been transformed by their experience abroad. A similar institutional transnational initiative is a graduate programme in bilingual education. This programme organized by the Universidad Autnoma de Santo Domingo in New York City and Providence, serving the entire Latino population, leads to a Masters degree. Dominican professors come to the United States and teach for two or three months, and at some point those enrolled in the programme have to take classes in Santo Domingo at the home campus. The degrees of the programme are recognized in the United States and serve to facilitate full entry into the eld of education. In New York City, the programme has been in place for a number of years, open to the entire Latino population, and is in great demand. It has recently been organized in Providence and expectations of it are high. As with the case of narrow political transnationality, narrow civilsocietal transnationality is based on institutions the building of associations and organizations and continuous involvement on issues pertaining to the two countries. Constant movement between the two places is less common. Broad civil-societal transnationality: Under broad civil-societal transnationality, we locate a large number of community initiatives in diverse areas. In both North-American cities there are numerous Dominican sport leagues, including baseball, basketball, bowling and domino. These leagues often organize trips to the Dominican Republic in which they play against teams from several cities, depending on the connections of the organizers. Dominican religious groups are also known by informants in both

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countries to organize fundraising events for particular projects such as for churches and schools in the Dominican Republic. It appears that this type of exchange is frequent, but not regular. Nevertheless, they are very important because they show that the frame of reference for several activities transcends the borders of the countries. For example, Dominican baseball leagues in the Dominican Republic, as well as in the United States, are always organizing games against other leagues and teams. Sometimes the leagues or teams are from neighbouring cities, such as a team from Sabana Iglesias playing Santiago, or a team from Providence playing in New York; or games are organized against teams from the other country. There are, however, two kinds of problems with these transnational exchanges. The rst one is that travelling from Santiago to New York City is much more costly than going to Santo Domingo. This problem is dealt with by organizing fundraising events, such as raf es and dances. The second problem is that in spite of the blurring of the importance of nation-states, political borders and migration of cers still exist. This problem is more complicated to deal with. Dominicans are among the largest national groups in the United States, and as a result obtaining a visa to the United States in recent years has become increasingly dif cult. One of our informants in New York City who has organized a basketball tournament with a youth team from his home town told us that in order to get visas for the team he had to sign a guarantee that they would all return home. He was successful in achieving this and has now gained credibility to bring more teams. However, if anyone on the team he brought had stayed on in the United States, it would have precluded him from bringing any other team.

Cultural transnationalism
Narrow cultural transnationalis m: Cultural transnationalism refers to a diverse number of practices and institutions that take part in the formation of meanings, identities and values. These are the processes that de ne the changing discourses about what it is to be Dominican, in the Dominican Republic and abroad. The experiences of Dominicans in the United States are re-de ning cultural de nitions and practices of Dominicans in general. The question is, to what extent and in which ways do these changes take place? This is a rich eld of inquiry and scholars are increasingly paying attention to it (Duany 1994; Levitt 1997; Weyland 1997). Among the institutional elements that maintain the cultural connection between Dominicans is the media. Existing communication technologies allow for a constant linkage between Dominicans at home and abroad. El Nacional, one of the most important afternoon papers, has a New York daily edition and can be found in most bodegas. El Siglo, a morning paper, is printed daily in Miami, although with a more limited

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distribution than El Nacional. Those connected to the internet can read daily El Listn Diario, the oldest and most prestigious of Dominican newspapers (which is also sold in bodegas). Similarly, cable television and radio stations provide access to popular Dominican programmes and news. Access to the Dominican media allows Dominicans on the east coast of the United States to keep themselves updated and in constant touch with what is going on in the Dominican Republic. This constant connection, in turn, reinforces their identity as Dominicans, a feeling of being part of the national imagined community. A very important institution engaged in the re-elaboration of cultural discourses is the Center for Dominican Studies at the City University of New York [CUNY]. The Center was organized by Dominican scholars who grew up and were trained academically in the United States. It attempts to articulate the voice of Dominicans in the diaspora, transforming them from the objects of others discourses into subjects with their own voice. At the same time it has become a referent for Dominican scholars in the Dominican Republic, providing a home for visiting scholars who spend time conducting research in New York. Currently the Center has been awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship to bring scholars to do research on the topic of Silenced Voices in Dominican history. Thus the Center is entering into a dialogue about the de nition of Dominican identity and the telling of Dominican history that can alter the intellectual discourses on those issues, in particular, the Dominican discourse of race (Torres-Saillant 1998). In this case, what characterizes narrow cultural transnationalism is institutionalization and constant involvement in cultural production in the Dominican Republic and the diaspora. The Center is located in New York, and as an institution is geographica lly bounded to that city. Academics, on the other hand, move back and forth within the transnational space, and the Center has become a referent for Dominican academics. In this way, academic research, intellectual work and cultural production ow in the transnational space. Broad cultural transnationality: One central element in the formation of Dominican identities is music (Duany 1994). Many of our informants in the United States remarked that listening and dancing merengue was one of the main components of Dominican identity abroad. They assert that second-generation Dominicans, who have not been much in the Dominican Republic and do not necessarily speak Spanish uently, still dance merengue. Dancing merengue is a de ning element in the de nition of Dominican identity, which differentiates them from other youth, such as Puerto Ricans and African Americans. The cultural musical in uences are, however, complex. New York City is a place of constant musical innovation and Dominican musicians in New York have incorporated many elements of hip-hop in their music

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and their fashion. Many young Dominican musicians in New York City are playing a musical genre called merenhouse that mixes traditional merengue rhythms with hip-hop beats. This type of music and the groups that play it is currently the most popular one among Dominican teenagers both in the United States and the Dominican Republic. The popularity of this music (and the video-clips that carry it) has an effect also on the way people carry themselves. New York style of dressing such as baggy pants, basketball T-shirts, and certain haircuts are increasingly seen in the streets of the Dominican Republic. Part of the rst generation, and certainly the second generation become accustomed to the ways certain things are done in the United States. The student we quoted previously argues that she has a hard time explaining to her friend in the Dominican Republic that she is going to graduate concentrating on womens studies, adding that she cannot take the way men relate to women there. That, however, does not diminish her own identity as Dominican, but raises the questions whether and how transnationality is changing gender relations among Dominicans. This is an important issue that requires further study. The increasing assertiveness of Dominicans abroad, and their increasing presence in the Dominican economy and politics, is changing the way Dominican transmigrants are seen by Dominicans on the island. It is true that the more widespread image is that of the Dominicanyork; that of the migrant that comes home to show-off his/her newly acquired wealth, which many suspect has not been acquired by legal means. However, that image is slowly beginning to change. Addressing the issue of image is one of three leading island newspapers, Hoy. In 1997 this paper published a series of thirty-eight articles on Dominicans in New York City, each article portraying the case of a successful Dominican. These portraits include cases of second-generation Dominicans who are also recognized as successful members of the national community. They portray success as being based on hard work and pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. A similar phenomenon is taking place in the literary eld. Dominican writers in the United States are gaining increasing transnational recognition. These authors mix their Dominican and American experience in their writing. Julia Alvarez (1991, 1994) writes about How the Garca Sisters Lost their Accent, but also about the Mirabal sisters, the heroines of the ght against dictator Rafael Trujillo. Another author, Junot Daz (1996), writes about the experience of growing up in both countries. These authors are widely read and celebrated in both countries. A Dominican politician expressed the increasing recognition of the transnational community saying that this is the age of the two Dominican Republics, one on the island and one abroad. 3 In our view, it is the age of the extraterritorial nation. It is the lack of coincidence between the political, cultural and economic boundaries of the nation that gives rise to a transnational community.

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The eld of broad cultural transnationality is extended but not limitless. It encompasses cultural practices that refer to the de nition and boundaries of being Dominican. We argue that the de nition of the boundaries and content of Dominicanness is certainly becoming transnational. Returning to the Dominican Republic is still the dream of many rst-generation migrants. For many, this is the only way of enjoying the fruits of their hard work in the United States. It also allows people to enjoy their newly acquired social status which they cannot enjoy in the United States due to discrimination. Nevertheless, there is among Dominicans in the United States, an increasing sense of their legitimacy as Dominicans. As one of our informants put it We do not need to go back because we have recreated the Dominican Republic in Washington Heights. At the same time, many aspects of Dominican culture in the Dominican Republic are being shaped by the experience of Dominicans in the United States. The dynamics of transnationalism In this article we have presented an analysis of the structure of Dominican transnationalism. We have argued that it is useful to distinguish between narrow and broad transnational practices. The sum of these practices constitutes the transnational social eld. There are, however, questions about the dynamics of this transnational eld. How was it formed? Is there a central element to it? Most scholars link the rise of transnationalism to the globalizatio n of capital that characterize the present phase of the capitalist world system. We agree with this general argument, but that does not tell us much about the process of formation of particular transnational communities.4 At what point in the history of Dominican migration can we begin to speak about Dominican transnationality? In our review of the literature on the Dominican migration, we noted that the study of transnationality emerged in the 1990s. Certainly, Dominicans began sending remittances long before that time. However, it is only with the deep economic crisis that the country went through during the 1980s and the mass migration that took place, that remittances became a central element in the economy of the country. Dominican political parties in the United States already existed for several decades, but it was only in the 1990s that the Dominican communities abroad became central to the political life of the island. There are several reasons for this ascendance of Dominicans abroad. The sheer numbers and economic capacity of Dominicans abroad increased their importance in terms of fundraising and political support. Dominicans abroad also became aware of their economic and political importance in the life of the Dominican Republic and began to demand recognition. Finally, the 1990s witnessed the consolidation of truly competitive politics in the

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Dominican Republic, which provided the incentives for looking for support abroad. Transnational rms in the narrow sense also seem to be a product of the growth of the Dominican community abroad. A certain degree of capital accumulation is necessary before people can invest back home. At the beginning of the 1990s, when Portes and Guarnizo(1991) conducted their study, they found a sizeable number of transnational rms. We do not know when the informal transnational traders started to conduct their business in a regular way, but while this kind of itinerant trade is not new in the Caribbean, it seems that, in the present context, transnational traders and rms are increasingly important for the economic welfare of Dominicans at home and abroad. Some of the main elements that constitute Dominican transnationality were thus present from the beginning of Dominican migration to the United States. However, it is only at some point during the late 1980s that the Dominican communities abroad gained enough economic and political weight in the life of the island to speak about a transnational community. In turn, the slow recognition of that weight by Dominicans at home brought the extension of double nationality, and the shifts in ways transmigrants are perceived. The consequence is the expansion of the imagined boundaries of Dominicanness. Conclusions We suggest that the structure of the Dominican transnational eld and transnational elds in general is better understood by looking at narrow and broad transnational social practices. It is important to remark, however, that narrow and broad are differences of degree rather than categorical. People may be involved in narrow transnational practices in one eld, and broad practices in another eld, or in narrow and broad practices in the same eld at different times. The important point is that a large number of Dominicans, at home and abroad, take part in one or other of these practices. Is there any element that is central to this transnational eld, an element that without it the boundaries of the nation will return to be equal with the boundaries of the country? We think not, at least not as long as the Dominican Republic cannot generate enough jobs for its population fuelling emigration and continued dependence on remittances, and as long as the United States symbolic system of racial strati cation continues to preclude full integration into the American system for people of colour. Remittances and political support were probably the initial engines in the construction of transnationalism, but now the cultural construction of a transnational nation and economic transnational businesses are rmly established. Whether this situation is a long term one or not, we do not know. What is certain is that currently the

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relevant cultural, economic and political social elds of Dominicans are transnational. Notes
1. Georgess (1990) book uses the word transnationalism in its title, although it probably belongs more to the mainstream work on the socio-economic effects of migratio n than to our current understanding of transnationalism. 2. Car-wash places are interesting to look at because in recent years they have also become places of entertainment. Suddenly, almost every car-wash in Santo Domingo is transformed into a dancing place by night. Whether this is an innovation brought by Dominican transmigran ts is an interesting question for research . 3. The idea was put forward by Jose Ovalle Polanco in a speech given in a celebratio n of Dominican independence in Providence. 4. The work of David Kyle (1994) is an example of the kind of analysis needed on this issue.

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Los Dominicanyorks: The Making of a Binational Society, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, no. 533, pp. 70 86 - 1997 The emergence of a transnational social formation and the mirage of return migration among Dominican transmigrants, Identities, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 281 332 1998 The rise of transnational social formations: Mexican and Dominican State responses to transnational migration, Political Power and Social Theory , forthcoming GURAK, DOUGLAS and KRITZ, MARY 1982 Dominican and Colombian women in New York City: migration structure and employment patterns, Migration Today , vol. 10, nos 3 4, pp. 14 21 HENDRICKS, GLENN 1974 The Dominican Diaspora: From the Dominican Republic to New York City Villagers in Transition , New York: Teachers College Press ITZIGSOHN, JOSE 1995 Migrant remittances, labor markets, and household strategies: a comparative analysis of low-income household strategies in the Caribbean Basin, Social Forces, vol. 74, no. 2, pp. 63357 KYLE, DAVID 1995 The Transnational Peasant: The Social Structures of Economic Migration from the Ecuadoran Andes, PhD dissertation, Department of Sociology, The Johns Hopkins University LEVITT, PEGGY J. 1997 Transnationalizing community development: the case of migration between Boston and the Dominican Republic, Nonpro t and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 50926 1998 Social remittances: migration-driven, local-level forms of cultural diffusion, International Migration Review, (forthcoming) PESSAR, PATRICIA R. 1984 The linkage between the household and the workplace in the experience of Dominican immigrant women in the United States, International Migration Review, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 1188 211 1995 A Visa for a Dream: Dominicans in the United States, Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon MAHLER, SARA J. 1998 Theoretical and empirical contributions toward a research agenda for transnationalism , Comparative Urban and Community Research , vol. 6, pp. 64 102 PORTES, ALEJANDRO 1996 Transnational communities: their emergence and signi cance in the contemporary world system, in Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz and William C. Smith (eds), Latin America in the World Economy, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, pp. 151 68 PORTES, ALEJANDRO and LUIS E. GUARNIZO 1991 Tropical capitalists: U.S.bound immigration and small enterprise developmen t in the Dominican Republic, in S. Diaz-Briquets and S. Weintraug (eds), Migration, Remittances, and Small Business Development: Mexico and Caribbean Basin Countries, Boulder, CO: Westview Press. SMITH, ROBERT C. 1994 Los Ausentes Siempre Presentes: The Imagining, Making and Politics of Transnational Communities Between the U.S. and Mexico , PhD dissertation, New York: Columbia University, Department of Political Sciences 1998 Transnational localities: community, technology and the politics of membership within the context of Mexico-U.S. migration , in Michael Peter Smith and Luis Eduardo Guarnizo (eds) Comparative Urban and Community Research , vol. 6, pp. 192240, New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers TORRES-SAILLANT, SILVIO 1998 The tribulations of blackness: stages in Dominican racial identity, Latin American Perspectives, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 12646 WEYLAND, KARIN 1997 El Impacto Cultural y Econmico de la Migracin hacia Nueva York en la Mujer Dominicana Trabajadora, paper presented at the La Repblica Dominicana en el umbral del siglo XXI International Conference, Santo Domingo, 24 26 July

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JOSE ITZIGSOHN is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. CARLOS DORE CABRAL is a researcher at the Facultad Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. ESTHER HERNANDEZ MEDINA is a professor in the Division of Social Sciences, Instituto Tecnolgico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), Dominican Republic. OBED VAZQUEZ is a Doctoral Student in Sociology at Brown University ADDRESS (for correspondence): Jos Itzigsohn, Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA; email: Jose_Itzigsohn@brown.edu