When local political opportunity structures matter in political agency: the multipronged incorporation of Latinos in Chicago

Abstract

This paper analyses immigrant political incorporation through the political opportunity structure (POS) approach. This research acknowledges the contemporary interactions between the agency of Latinos and the political context of Chicago. The agency has three dimensions in the analysis: organisation, mobilisation, and policy incidence. The research design consists of a qualitative case study that includes observation and elite interviews. The main finding is how the degree of political inclusiveness of the city and the contextual factors merge with the multipronged agency, leading to complex interactions. Latinos in Chicago are experiencing the following dilemmas: 1) mainstreaming vs. autonomy in the case of organisation, 2) the simultaneous use of contentious and uncontentious mobilisations, and 3) the generation of community innovations to avoid depoliticisation.