Political Transnationalism between

1. Ecuador Spain Political Transnationalism between Cristina Fernández Gutiérrez

2. The U.S. as first destination until 1996. 1996 Ecuador´s economic crisis. New destination: Spain Why Spain? - hardening of U.S. immigration policy - economic reasons Targeted group: Ecuadorians in Spain

3. Meaning ofTransnationalism • Glick Schiller et. al. (1999): “…is a pattern of migration in which persons […] maintain ongoing social connections with the polity from which they originated.” • Portes, A. and Haller, W. (2003): “… the rise of a new class of immigrants, economic entrepreneurs or political activists who conduct cross-border activities on a regular basis […]”

4. Preliminary Evidence • Cases studied: All studies in the U.S. context • Portes and Haller (2003): assimilation of immigrants to the U.S. • Two main arguments of interest: - Migrants depicted as agents of change: as opposed to traditional assimilation theory - Deterritorialization vs. Territorialized actions and practices.

5. Theoretical Perspectives a)The role of individual factors in immigrant assimilation b) Contemporary theories of context of migration as determinant of immigrants incorporation to host societies. c)Social Networks theory

6. Hypothesesto be tested in the Spanish/Ecuadorian case • Higher education leads to higher engagement in political transnationalism. - the role of Ecuadorian women in Spain • The longer period in Spain the greater involvement in transnational politics. 3. Rural vs. Urban: I expect Indigenous Ecuadorians to engage in transnational political activities not because of bad adaptation to the Spanish context but because of indigenous Ecuadorian´s political legacy.

7. Methodology • Population sample: relatively small sample in Madrid, Spain and Cañar, Ecuador. • First phase (this summer): Sociological qualitative data. in-depth interviews & Participant observation • Political participation is considered both: - Transnational electoral participation and - Transnational non-electoral activities • Other data collection: CCIS project, Spanish Census, nongovermental organizations, immigrant associations.

8. SomeExpected Results • I expect to show that the Ecuadorian population in Spain is in fact engaged in transnational political activities with Ecuador. • I expect to find how the case of indigenous transnational activity is different from previous studies on rural/urban migration. And to find how and why indigenous Ecuadorians are participating in political transnational activities. • I expect to show how the Spanish/Ecuadorian case informs the current literature on transnational political engagement testing the previous hypothesis.