Empowering cooperation : Dominican hometown associations and the politics of transnational community development

Abstract

This dissertation examines how three Dominican hometown associations (HTAs) define, negotiate and practice transnational community development, by carefully analyzing the processes through which state, migrants and non-migrant actors engage in "messy" local projects. I identify two interrelated factors that explain the differences and commonalities in how the three organizations under study muddle through transnational community development processes: (1) the intra organizational dynamics that take shape as HTAs engage in cross border efforts, and (2) the types of project-based engagements between the associations, the state and other development actors. I also devised some stylized analytical categories that allow for a more refined analysis of how power is negotiated and exercised in cross-border development situations, and the ways in which the transnational relationships between diverse development actors are shaped. I argue that the more promising processes of transnational community development are those characterized by the coexistence of well articulated transnational cooperation networks that allow migrant and home country HTA chapters to contribute effectively to a common development agenda, together with empowered exchanges that enable the effective coproduction of projects while allowing local community leaders to play a protagonist role. More than a mechanistic cause and effect story, what the data confirms is a co-evolving relationship between the patterns of organizational politics and project-based engagements. By unpacking projects and processes, I also document the routines and tactics that HTAs employ to achieve their goals. In general, all the organizations studied have a tendency to seek answers to complex development issues through experimentation and problem-oriented strategies. Being able to experiment and troubleshoot, these organizations sidestep the strictures of policy and programmatic "monocropping", which, in turn, provides them with increased opportunities to learn from practical experience. That is, in the absence of formal structures, learning becomes a continuously evolving exercise. Nevertheless, learning opportunities come in many guises, so development trials can lead to important process innovations, but also costly mistakes. In light of this, the ability to identify and make the most out of unforeseen or unintended development consequences stemming from experimental projects becomes a fundamental skill for HTAs.