Promoting Health from Outside the State: El Pueblo, Migrants, and Hometown Associations

• In Event: 505 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Health and Globalization

Abstract

The explicit purpose of hometown associations (HTAs) has focused on serving migrant communities of origin – specifically by providing a way for migrants in the U.S. to support socio-economic projects to be implemented in their hometowns. A crucial, albeit neglected, dimension is how HTAs promote health in their communities of origin. The paper presents a case study of an HTA located in Los Angeles, California based on organizational minutes, newsletters, and publications collected in 2014. The group selected from this research is Club Pegueros is one of the oldest HTAs or clubs formed by migrants from the rural town of Pegueros, which is in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. This organization was established in 1981, when most of the Peguerense community lived in the Los Angeles area. The organization’s purpose was to maintain community and solidarity as well as to come to the aid of family and friends back home in Pegueros. Since then, the group has raised money from donations, community events, and an annual beauty pageant held at their Baile de Gala, where people come together to celebrate the winner. Through this fundraising the group has supported multiple infrastructural, social, and economic projects back home in Pegueros.

Author

• Jose A. Munoz, California State University-San Bernardino