The politics of immigration locally: alliances between political parties and immigrant organizations

Alliances are a political opportunity that reinforce the claims made by different players in the political sphere. However, the literature on the political participation of immigrants pays little attention to the formation of alliances and their effects on the interaction between immigrants and inst...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Triviño Salazar, Juan Carlos
Format: article
Status:Versión aceptada para publicación
Publication Date:2018
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/44356
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44356
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1297471
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Alliances
Immigrant organizations
Local
Political participation
Politicization
Political parties
Description
Summary:Alliances are a political opportunity that reinforce the claims made by different players in the political sphere. However, the literature on the political participation of immigrants pays little attention to the formation of alliances and their effects on the interaction between immigrants and institutional actors, especially under circumstances of politicization. This article aims to explain the emergence of alliances between political parties and immigrant organizations when immigration is politicized locally. I argue that the need to legitimize the political parties’ position on the politicization guide their alliances with immigrants. Using qualitative methods, I analyse the emergence of alliances in the anti-Romanian-Roma campaign in Badalona and the burka ban in Lleida, both in Catalonia, Spain. The findings portray these relationships as the outcome of strategic interactions that respond to the balance of power between institutional and non-institutional actors.