From Hermano Lejano to Hermano Mayor: the dialectics of Salvadoran transnationalism

Abstract

A dialectical framework is proposed for analysing the economic and political practices associated with immigrant transnationalism. The causes and consequences of the transnational relations sustained by Salvadoran migrants in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, with El Salvador is used to test this proposition. It is argued that the conditions of Salvadorans' exit from their country of origin and of their reception in the US explains their tendency to invest considerable resources in forging and maintaining transnational relations with their places of origin. In turn, the aggregate impact of household-level transnational practices elicit spontaneous and institutional responses from different sectors of Salvadoran society. Based on the case of El Salvador, typologies of transnational economic enterprises and transnational political practices are presented that confirm the high degree to which the maintenance of transnational relations are indispensable to El Salvador and its migrant-citizens.