Insiders and Outsiders: Latina/o Middlemen in Navigating Ethno-Political Boundaries in a Changing Neighborhood

• In Event: 129 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Latinos in the Labor Market

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in documenting newcomers' social, economic, and political integration into new destinations in the United States. However, we know less about how place-based social structures shape first and second generation integration. This paper examines how Mexican American middle-class professionals, or middlemen, broker for co-ethnics while navigating ethno-political cleavages in a historically white suburban neighborhood in the U.S. Midwest. Latina/o middlemen ability to broker on behalf of residents is shaped by neighborhood ethno-political structures. Mexican American middlemen who are upwardly politically aligned with local white elected officials are insiders. Insiders work to realign the interests of white administrators’ and Latina/o resident’s and do so by serving as communicators and negotiators. Those who are downwardly politically aligned are outsiders. Outsiders are publically critical of the current administration and local ethno-political structure. They call into question ethno-racial inequality in the community and serve as activists and agitators. Outsiders aim to dismantle political practices and policies that reproduce local ethno-racial hierarchies and hinder Latina/o residential integration, while insiders work within the political structure to achieve the same outcome. The findings suggest that local social structures influence Latina/os integration in new destinations and shape how advocates broker on their behalf.

Author

• Juan Russell Martinez, Harold Washington College