Academic Literature - Hometown Associations

Communications Landscaping – North and Latin American Transnational Communities

- Academic Literature Review -

Hometown Associations

This type of organization's activities, growth, and impact on policies, culture, and economy, both in the migrants' different communities of origin and in the United States

• Latino Hometown Associations as agents of Development in Latin America
  By: Manuel Orozco
  Lenguage: English
  
  In this paper, Dr. Manuel Orozco examines Latino hometown associations (HTAs) and their considerable growth over the past decade. These organizations are formed by groups of immigrants hailing from the same towns. While their focus has been primarily on supporting the immigrant community in the United States, in recent years a growing number of HTAs have begun to send collective remittances back home for community development projects such as paving roads, building schools, and buying ambulances. Dr. Orozco studies HTAs formed by Domincans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and Salvadorans in several cities in the United States. He concludes that there are several characteristics common to almost all HTAs, including their informal and voluntary structure, sporadic relationships with municipalities in the hometowns, and small economic base. He notes the potential of HTAs to contribute to economic development, but cautions that HTAs will not be uniformly successful. He makes three recommendations to help HTAs improve their performance and contribution to community development: organizing training workshops, establishing better relationships with municipalities, and creating "transnational public policy networks." Despite this new interest in collective remittances, Dr. Orozco reminds us that the first priority for most immigrants is improving their lives in the United States.
• The Development of Home Town Associations in the United States and the use of social remittances in Mexico
  By: Rafael Alarcón
  Lenguage: English
  
  Money remittances between the United States and Mexico are in the process of evolving from the province of individuals and households toward the increasing involvement of hometown associations (HTAs). These associations are based on the social networks established by community members of the same rural locality of origin in Mexico. The members of these associations, commonly known as .clubs,. seek to promote the well-being of their community in both the United States and Mexico by raising money to fund public works and social projects. These associations pay particular attention to the needs of low-income persons who live in Mexico. The article examines three little studied aspects of HTAs: (1) the conditions that have led to their emergence, (2) the uses to which they put their collective remittances in Mexico, and (3) the methods they use to transfer their remittances home.

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