Politics in Our Veins

""Politics has long been a central arena through which immigrant groups make claims of belonging in American society. Drawing on an in-depth study of Dominican elected officials, this book traces how Dominicans have carved out a place within U.S. political life. Of particular significance is its analysis of how organizations structure, sustain, and mediate this process. This book is essential reading for scholars of immigrant political participation."" – José Itzigsohn, co-author of The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois: Racialized Modernity and the Global Color Line ""Using original data to provide the most comprehensive analysis of U.S. Dominican politics to date, Matos, Morel, and Vásquez lay out a theory of Dominican political incorporation that centers the role of community-based organizations, identity politics, specifically the intersection of race and gender among Dominicans, transnational dynamics, and local political context. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in how history, racial dynamics, and gender affect the political incorporation of different Latino national-origin groups in the United States."" – Lisa García Bedolla, co-author of Latino Politics ""In this timely study, Matos, Morel, and Bueno Vásquez narrate the emergence of Dominican-Americans as a formidable electoral constituency in the Eastern United States and beyond. They offer a much-needed analysis of Dominican political incorporation over decades and in multiple locations. The result is an expert guide to understanding people of Dominican ancestry as political participants and equally, or even more impressively, as leaders"" – Ramona Hernández, co-editor of Building Strategic Partnerships for Development: Dominican Republic New York State