Promoting Health from Outside the State: La Comunidad, Migrants, and Hometown Associations.

• In Event: 136 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 12. Health and Health Behaviors

Abstract

Hometown Association (HTA) projects across Latin America have included rehabilitating roads; improving sewage systems and water quality; constructing recreational facilities; and refurbishing community buildings. All of these projects contribute to public health. The question explored in this paper is how remittances from abroad potentially contributes to the public health of hometown communities. Three data sources will be explored in the paper. The first is a single case study of an HTA based in Los Angeles, California. The second and third sources are secondary data from the Comparative Immigrant Organization Project (CIOP) and the Mexican Migration Project (MMP). These two databases contain information on migrants sending back money to their communities of origin for the purpose of helping with health related issues. For this paper, the level of analysis for the CIOP is organizational and the MMP is individual. The results from these databases are not to be interpreted together but just to demonstrate migrants’ involvement in health projects in their community of origin. This paper explores our question through the lens of NGO, human rights and social movement models in order to understand how domestic and international networks impact development and social change efforts

Authors

• Jose A. Munoz, CSU San Bernardino

• Jose Luis Collazo, Washington State University