Project | Country Profiles | Families | Civil Society | States | Remittances | Research Team
Latin American Research Group (LARG)
Civil Society
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The process of political participation among Latin American immigrants involves establishing or making contact with different types of institutions and organizations both in home countries and in the Canadian political arena. In the process of participation, immigrants undertake a range of activities, such as advocacy around Canadian foreign policy, immigrant/refugee rights, social justice issues, targeted services (e.g. ESL, heritage language, victims of torture, etc.), the right to vote in sending country federal elections, and the recognition of indigenous rights. In Toronto, Latin American immigrants have participated in a large number of social, political and cultural organizations whose members have made significant contributions to the process of settlement and integration of Latin Americans, just as they have sustained significant and complex links with immigrants’ places of origin. The “civil society” component of the project on Social Cohesion and International Migration in a Globalizing Era: Transnational Solidarities and Newcomer’s Incorporation in Canada, was designed to understand the institutional/organizational history of Latin American immigrants in Toronto, and the relationship between incorporation in Canada and transnational engagements. The project addressed fundamental questions such as how policies might encourage or discourage the process of political incorporation in Canada; what are the political organizations formed by migrant groups, what shapes the organizational culture of Latin American immigrants; and, how organizational mandates develop and evolve over time. We conducted 17 group interviews with 100 Latin American and Canadian participants. The information gathered in these interviews is documented in a series of summaries for each group participating in our study including: 1) Salvadorans, 2) Guatemalans; 3) Colombians; 4) Chileans; 5) women; 6) indigenous rights organizations; 7) umbrella organizations; 8) Canadian solidarity groups (with membership drawn from unions, churches, academia, etc.); 9) refugee rights and advocacy organizations; 10) church groups; 11) priests; 12) educational groups; 13) art and performance groups; 14) experts in the area of mental health and immigration in Latin America.
We conducted individual and group interviews. In the individual interviews we addressed questions about the history of migration, labor, and participation in different organizations. In the group interviews we included questions about the type and dynamic of these organizations, the relationship with other organizations, challenges and divisions among its members, and political orientation. In order to understand the institutional landscapes of Latin Americans in Toronto some group interviews focused on specific countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia and Chile), while others were thematic, including women’s organizations, indigenous rights organizations; umbrella organizations, solidarity groups, and refugee rights and advocacy organizations. To study the institutional history of Latin American immigrants we decided to include participants from Latin America and Canada because this allowed us to understand the context, role and interaction of the sending and receiving societies. Participants in this study included community leaders with long histories of participation in a variety of organizations and with diverse perspectives on the history of the organizations. To select participants, the LARG research team considered two main sources of information: researchers’ previous knowledge, and suggestions and insights provided by key informants from the Latin American and Canadian immigrant advocacy communities. As a result of previous studies and participation in community events, researchers developed a list of more than 130 individuals who currently or in the past have played a key role in the development of Latin American grassroots and community organizations. Some group interviews were organized in collaboration with relevant Latin American institutions; their legitimacy and contacts with a particular constituency served as an entry point for the success of our group interviews. In particular, key informants provided us with the names of more potential participants and in some cases, agreed to include their organization in the letter of invitation for this project such as the Chilean coalition of organizations that initiated the community project Museo Solidaridad in Toronto. Questionnaire for Latin American Community Leaders & Activists Civil Society References
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