Week 5: Smith - "Transnational Migration and the Globalization of Grassroots Politics" (Ang, Adrian)

In Smith's "Transnational Migration and the Globalization of Grassroots Politics", the main idea that he brings up is that the politics of transmigrants are inherently transnational as well, encapsulated by the phrase "think globally, act locally", and more specifically, "thinking locally while acting globally", "living bifocally", and "thinking and acting simultaneously at multiple scales". One thing that I thought was interesting while reading this article was how Smith was able to provide four examples of how transnational migrants were able to affect political change on a wide-scale transnationally, especially when transnational migrants are not typically seen collectively as a powerful political force. Specifically, the example of the coalition of transnational migrant women who held a conference in the Bay Area showed how transnational migrants were able to enact change in their home country and their old country. In connecting this reading back to this week's theme of politics in the context of the diaspora, the four examples provided really emphasize the power of transnational migrants as a political force, especially in topics that concern them as migrants in a state of "betweenness". To pose a question for the class, how can today's new technologies, like the internet and social media networks, help establish grassroots political movements within the transnational migrant community?

An event poster from Mujeres Unidas y Activas, one of the groups that organizes a political alliance and conference for transnational migrant women to voice heir experiences, in Fort Mason, San Francisco, 1993.

Works Cited:

Michael Peter Smith. "Transnational Migration and the Globalization of Grassroots Politics."

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