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8/12/2019 Mapping Dominican Transnationalism
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Mapping Dominican
transnationalism: narrow and broad
transnational practices
JosItzigsohn, Carlos Dore Cabral, Esther Hernndez Medina and
Obed Vzquez
AbstractThis article maps the structure for understanding the Dominican trans-
national 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 dening 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 abag for her. The airline claimed she was carrying too much baggage
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 rep-
resentative of the Dominican community in New York. He was elected
according to current laws, appearing in the lists of representatives of a
Ethnic and Racial Studies Volume 22 Number 2 March 1999
Routledge 1999 0141-9870
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Dominican city. But debates in the Dominican Republic over the exten-
sion 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 geographicalboundaries 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 par-
ticipate 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 transnation al eld in a symbolic way, as
part of their space of meaningful references. Nevertheless, few Domini-
cans 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 broadforms 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 geographical
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 com-
munities 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 communi-
cation and transportation technologies have allowed for an increasing
intensity and immediacy to those linkages (Portes 1996). The emergence
of transnational 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
dened transnationalism as the processes by which immigrants forge and
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 317
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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 dailylife 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. Con-
fronted 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 character-
istic of these enterprises is that their existence is dependent on the con-
tinuation of the transnational linkage.
The work of other scholars has added to the conceptualization and
understanding of transnational communities. Smith (1994, 1998) ex-
plored the linkages between the town of Ticuani, in the Mexican state ofPuebla, 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
geographically 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 move-
ment of people is superimposed on existing networks for the movementof goods between Ecuador and the United States.
Migration and transnationalism 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 coun-
tries 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 Domini-
can society, making the Dominican case a paradigmatic one for the study
318 Jos Itzigsohn et al.
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of the rise of transnationalism. 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 thismigration. 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 com-
munities 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 com-
munity 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 com-
munity as an ethnic enclave, with a certain degree of internal socialstratication. 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 entrepreneurial class, part of which owes its existence to its con-
stant 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 trans-
nationalism. 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) focuseson 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
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 319
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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 citizen-
ship by the Dominican government and the creation of a Dominican dis-
trict in New York City council elections. Levitt (1997, 1998) analyses
organizational and value changes in Dominican community, political, andreligious 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
exponentially 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. Domini-
cans abroad became an important source of nance for Dominican politi-
cal 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 ourunderstanding of Dominican transnationality. Nevertheless, many ques-
tions 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 indi-
vidual identities and symbolic practices? Are transnational migrants only
those involved in continuous dealings between the two countries, or areall 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 trans-
national communities. The goal of this phase was to explore the differ-
ent 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 Repub-
lic. Table 1 presents a description of our interviewees.
We selected two locations in the United States to achieve a broad viewof 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
320 Jos Itzigsohn et al.
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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 Cityand Providence.
We selected the informants by looking for people with a central posi-
tion 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-generation Dominicans. In the DominicanRepublic the majority of the interviews were conducted in Santo
Domingo, with the exception of two interviews that took place in Santi-
ago. Six of the interviews in the Dominican Republic were with North-
Americans 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 sug-gesting paths for further research.
Towards a comprehensive understanding of Dominican transnational
practices
One of the main problems in our understanding of transnational com-
munities is who to include and what type of practice should be con-
sidered transnational. There are currently two main answers to thisquestion. Portes (1996) includes only those people engaged in recurrent
binational dealings and focuses mainly on economic aspects. Basch,
Glick Schiller, and Szanton-Blanc (1994) are more inclusive, including
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 321
Table 1. Breakdown of interviews with key informants by place and gender
United States Dominican RepublicNew York Providence
Men 22 19 23Women 10 3 7
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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 entrepreneurship
affects a large number of social processes, from macro processes of
national development, to the options for social mobility open to indi-
viduals. 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 trav-
elling to supply their businesses. These would be transnational entrepre-
neurs according to Portes. Most of the people in line, however, travel
only once or twice a year to the Dominican Republic, but every time theytravel 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.
322 Jos Itzigsohn et al.
Table 2. Selected demographic data for Dominicans in Providence, Rhode Islandand New York City, 1990, 1985
Rhode Providence Manhattan New YorkIsland City
1990All Dominicans 9,374 7,973 136,696 332,713
100% 100% 100% 100%Native Born 2,940 2,361 37,905 95,492
% of all Dominicans 31.30% 29.60% 27.73% 28.70%Born in State of Residence 1,868 1,244 34,901 85,841
% of all Dominicans 19.90% 15.60% 25.53% 25.80%Born in Different State 1,072 931 654 2,139
% of all Dominicans 11.40% 11.60% 0.48% 0.64%Foreign Born 6,434 5,612 98,791 237,221
% of all Dominicans 68.60% 70.40% 72.27% 71.30%Naturalized 1,409 1,266 24,307 60,976
% of all Dominicans 21.90% 15.80% 17.78% 18.33%Not a Citizen 5,025 4,346 74,484 176,245
% of all Dominicans 78.10% 54.50% 54.49% 52.97%1985Mobility
All Dominicans 8,333 7,083 124,233 299,482(5 yrs and older) 100% 100% 100% 100%
Same State 4,481 3,853 103,744 243,45553.70% 54.40% 83.51% 81.29%
Different State 1,715 1,324 1,067 3,35620.50% 18.70% 0.86% 1.12%
Abroad 1,861 1,906 19,422 52,79922.30% 26.90% 15.63% 17.63%
Source: 1990 Census
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The understanding of Basch et al. helps us to include a number of prac-
tices under the transnational label. It suffers, though, from being too
unspecied. After all, there is a difference between those who engage in
constant travel and business in both countries and those who see them-
selves as Dominicans in the United States and long for the homeland thatthey may never have seen. We believe that both are part of a trans-
national eld, but this transnational eld should be further specied.
The economic and everyday-pra ctices perspectives are not necessarily
in opposition. Mahler (1998) points to the need for mapping trans-
national 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 sug-
gestion and propose to differentiate between narrow and broad trans-
national practices. We want to consider narrow and broad transnational
practices as two poles of a continuum dened by the degree of insti-
tutionalization, 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 transnational eld, a high level of institutionalization, or con-stant 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 denes its own continuum, creating three parallel con-tinua. Table 3 illustrates this idea. In many cases, transnational practicesare 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 classicatory 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 transnational 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 trans-
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 323
Table 3. Dimensions of narrow and broad transnationality
Transnational practices
Narrow BroadHigh Institutionalization LowConstant Participation OccasionalRegular Movement Sporadic
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nationalism in the Dominican Republic. We divide Dominican trans-
national practices into four categories: economic, political, civil-societaland 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 activi-
ties are included under different categories. Nevertheless, the clarity of
our analysis will benet from this division. Thus, for our analytical
purpose we shall classify activities according to their main goal, such thatfundraising for a political party will be considered a political activity.
Our use of civil-societal covers those community practices in thereligious, sports, or mutual-help elds that are not mainly political ormarket 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 transnational 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 iden-
tities, 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 politi-
cal career there and argues that she could not live in the DominicanRepublic 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 Domini-
can Republic that she feels at home. Her everyday life takes place in the
324 Jos Itzigsohn et al.
Table 4. Narrow and broad transnationality among Dominicans
Transnationality Narrow Broadactivity
Economic Transnational rms Carrying bags full of merchandise on occasionaltrips
Political Membership in Dominican Participating in electoralpolitical parties in the US meetings in the US
Civil-Societal Membership in Town Participating in occasionalCommittees benet activities for the
Dominican RepublicCultural Participating in Dominican Dening oneself as part of
cultural production from Dominican diasporathe US
Note: The examples in each cell are illustrations of the kind of practices we have in mind.This is not an exhaustive table.
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United States but her identity, and the eld of relevant symbolic refer-
ences, 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 Domini-
can 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 contri-
bution of emigrants is their remittances and that those are used only for
consumption purposes.
Our interviews in the Dominican Republic revealed that our inform-
ants 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 theservice sector are moving and remittances companies, small loan and
investment rms called nancieras, laundries, car-repair shops and car-
wash businesses. In the retail sector, most of the investments by trans-
migrants are concentrated in supermarkets and colmados (small
neighbourhood 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 arrange-ment 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 con-
cerning 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
ofce 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 Super-
market 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 bothplaces. 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
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 325
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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 ofthis 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 con-
sumer 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-the-
counter 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 newphenomenon in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean. Indeed, we
can nd people conducting the same type of trade between the Domini-
can 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 dened Dominican goods,
which helps sustain the transnational Dominican cultural eld. What
characterizes these informal narrow transnational economic practices isa constant personal involvement and regular movement within the trans-
national space, but these practices show a low degree of institutionaliz-
ation.
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 exten-
sion and importance of this sector. We do not know the contribution of
this type of investment to the Dominican GDP, or to employment cre-
ation, 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 Provi-
dence 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 businesspeople are not engaged in transnational rms of the type described
above, although they may very well engage in broad economic trans-
national practices.
326 Jos Itzigsohn et al.
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Broad economic transnationalism: Broad economic transactions are
those that are more or less recurrent, but do not involve regular move-
ment 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 Domini-can 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 independence day in Providence highlight the import-
ance 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. Themerchandise, 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 prot.
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. Promi-nent 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. Never-
theless, Juan has saved enough money to buy land near his home town
in the Dominican Republic. Juan has also bought a number of cows, cur-rently 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
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 327
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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 economictransnational transactions. The goal of these broad investments is not
necessarily immediate subsistence but old-age insurance although theyoften 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 mean-
ings. They contribute to sustaining the emotional linkage between
Dominicans abroad and in the Dominican Republic, and to strengthen-
ing the Dominicanness of transmigrants.
Political transnationality
Narrow political transnationalism: 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 Dominicanparties: the governing Partido de Liberacion Dominicana [PLD Domini-can Liberation Party], the largest opposition party, Partido Revolucionario
Dominicano [PRD Dominican Revolutionary Party], and the party offormer president Joaquin Balaguer, Partido Reformista Social Cristiano
[PRSC Social Christian Reformist Party]. The rst two parties haveofces in New York and Providence. The presence of the PRSC, though,
has diminished after they were forced out of government, so much so, thatwe did not nd an ofce 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. Pe a Gmez, conducted campaigns in
New York and Providence, searching for political support and partici-
pating in fundraisers. Graham (1997) estimates that between 10 and 15
per cent of the campaign funds is raised in the United States. Our inform-
ants did not provide a specic percentage, but stressed that the Domini-
can community in the United States is a very important source of funds.
Dominican politicians argue that the opinions of Dominican trans-
migrants are important in inuencing the voting decisions of Dominicans
on the island. One prominent politician we interviewed argued that thisis 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 politi-
cal opinions of transmigrants. This political inuence, real or assumed,
expands the eld of transnational political competition. Parties competefor funds and support in New York and New England, as well as in Santo
Domingo and Santiago.This 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 legis-
lature is perhaps the most clear example of narrow political trans-
nationalism. 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 Fer-
nandez grew up in New York City and had close relations with the NewYork 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 con-
sulate in New York has now become much more responsive to the needsof 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 activi-
ties. 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 supportersor opponents of particular candidates. The corners of St. Nicholas Ave,
and those of Broadway in upper Manhattan, are the settings for passion-
ate political arguments, and motor caravans organized by the different
political parties clog the main streets of the Dominican neighbourhoods.
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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 Domini-
cans abroad, and by this act expanded the scope of the transnational
political eld. This action was, in part, the result of pressures by Domini-cans 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 well-
being 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 partici-
pation has yielded results. In 1992 New York Citys rst Dominican
councilman, Guillermo Linares, was elected, and in 1996 Adriano Espail-
lat was the rst Dominican to be elected as state representative. In Prov-idence, 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 toour informants, the current terms of the debate exclude the possibility of
voting for president, since Dominican politicians do not want the presi-
dential 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 ques-
tions: 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 thepast. The alleged reason for the current absence of this type of organiz-ation 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 Domini-
canos Residents en el Exterior(Foundation for the Defence of Domini-
cans 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 Dominicansabroad with the drug trade, prostitution, and ostentatious behaviour toassisting 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 specic needs of returning
Dominicans to the Dominican Republic, who have already been trans-
formed by their experience abroad.
A similar institutional transnational initiative is a graduate programmein 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 pro-
fessors 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 theeld 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 expec-
tations of it are high.
As with the case of narrow political transnationality, narrow civil-
societal transnationality is based on institutions the building of associ-ations 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 trans-
nationality, 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 theyplay 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, Domini-can 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 rafes and dances.
The second problem is that in spite of the blurring of the importance of
nation-states, political borders and migration ofcers 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 bas-
ketball 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 transnationalism: Cultural transnationalism refers to a
diverse number of practices and institutions that take part in the for-
mation of meanings, identities and values. These are the processes that
dene 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-dening cultural denitions and practices of Domini-
cans 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 increas-
ingly paying attention to it (Duany 1994; Levitt 1997; Weyland 1997).
Among the institutional elements that maintain the cultural connec-
tion between Dominicans is the media. Existing communication tech-
nologies allow for a constant linkage between Dominicans at home andabroad. 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 eastcoast 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, trans-
forming them from the objects of others discourses into subjects with
their own voice. At the same time it has become a referent for Domini-
can 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. Thusthe Center is entering into a dialogue about the denition of Dominican
identity and the telling of Dominican history that can alter the intellec-
tual 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 NewYork, and as an institution is geographically bounded to that city. Aca-
demics, 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 dening element in the de-
nition of Dominican identity, which differentiates them from other
youth, such as Puerto Ricans and African Americans.The cultural musical inuences 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 thegroups that play it is currently the most popular one among Domini-
can 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 dress-
ing 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 increas-
ing presence in the Dominican economy and politics, is changing the wayDominican 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, eacharticle 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 recog-
nition. 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 hero-
ines 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 Domini-
can Republics, one on the island and one abroad.3 In our view, it is theage 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 limit-
less. It encompasses cultural practices that refer to the denition and
boundaries of being Dominican. We argue that the denition of the
boundaries and content of Dominicanness is certainly becoming trans-
national. Returning to the Dominican Republic is still the dream of manyrst-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 Domini-
can transnationalism. We have argued that it is useful to distinguishbetween 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 globalization 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 formationof particular transnational communities.4 At what point in the history of
Dominican migration can we begin to speak about Dominican trans-
nationality?
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 econ-
omic capacity of Dominicans abroad increased their importance in terms
of fundraising and political support. Dominicans abroad also becameaware 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) con-
ducted 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 econ-
omic welfare of Dominicans at home and abroad.
Some of the main elements that constitute Dominican transnational-
ity 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 ofthe imagined boundaries of Dominicanness.
Conclusions
We suggest that the structure of the Dominican transnational eld andtransnational 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 remit-
tances, 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 thecultural construction of a transnational nation and economic trans-
national 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 migration
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 transmigrants is an interesting question for research.
3. The idea was put forward by Jose Ovalle Polanco in a speech given in a celebration
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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JOSE ITZIGSOHN is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brown Uni-
versity, Providence, Rhode Island.
CARLOS DORE CABRAL is a researcher at the Facultad Latino-
americano de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Santo Domingo, Domini-
can 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 Uni-
versity
ADDRESS (for correspondence): Jos Itzigsohn, Department of Soci-
ology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA; email:
Mapping Dominican transnationalism 339