Questioning as We Walk: Case Analysis of Community Organizing in Rio Grande Valley Colonias

Abstract

Why are United States (U.S.)/Mexico colonias assumed to lack the capacity to organize? Are they, in fact, capable of community organizing? This dissertation sought to resolve a major discrepancy between evidence of colonia organizing on the ground and theories of community organizing that obscure colonia-based practices. Deriving from recent critiques of the field, the research uses a relational theory of organizing to reframe historic and contemporary colonia organizing practices. Using a qualitative case analysis of the Rio Grande Valley (Valley) of Texas, twenty-one colonia organizations and networks embedded within the case were comparatively examined. Data collection included twenty open-ended interviews with colonia organizers and observations of fifteen organizations between 2014 and 2016. This data was then analyzed through a relational framework that emphasized the position of Valley colonia organizing within the “third country” of the U.S./Mexico border, a region that remains distinct from the United States and Mexico.

Based on this analysis, the dissertation identifies four historic and four contemporary colonia organizing movements. The narratives of these eight movements subvert commonly held knowledge concerning colonia organizing by highlighting not only the existence of such organizing, but also its tenacity and breadth of scope. A common theme emerges regarding the role of self-help. However, this self-help implies a “do-it-yourself” attitude, not the government self-help housing programs that are frequently associated with colonia development. Contemporary colonia organizers are reappropriating the term “self-help” and, in a time of government austerity, are creating several regional colonia movements with the goal of supporting low-income, grassroots colonia leadership. Key to this goal is the creation of community-based civics education driven at a regional scale by the colonia residents. Ultimately, the dissertation not only upends a common assumption regarding colonia capacity to organize, but also provides insights into community organizing theory and its grasp on the connections between social context and practice. At an even higher level, there is a need to reassess theoretical definitions of “territory” and “sovereignty” to match the practices of the ultra-poor.