Politicians and Social Movements: The Impact of Electoral Victory on Local, National, and Transnational Activism by Hmong Americans in Minneapolis–St. Paul

Abstract

Political opportunity theory predicts that increased access to the political system benefits social movements by disadvantaged groups. To test this prediction, this paper evaluates the impact of two elected Hmong American officials on social movement campaigns in their community during their time in office. Content analysis of newspaper reports is used to (i) create a sample of nine local, national, and transnational social movement campaigns in the community; and (ii) determine in which of four possible ways the elected officials supported the campaigns: favorable media interviews, speeches at events, event organization, and legislation initiation. Only the two transnational campaigns which mobilized the entire community received all four types of support. The paper concludes that elected officials, even former activists from an ethnic minority community, carefully select the causes they will fully support. After electoral victory, social movements must still actively engage sympathetic politicians in order to turn an opening in the political system into actual access to power.

Introduction. From Diaspora Politics to Host-society Politics: Strategies of Political Mobilization and Integration of South Asian Migrants

“…This also happened to candidates from the Justice for Kashmir (JFK) group elected to serve on the Birmingham City Council in 2000 (Khan N.d.). The same has been said of Senator Moua and Representative Thao about the promotion of the Hmong cause in the United States (Hein and Vang 2015). And of Bhutila Karpoche in Toronto who, in Bentz's words, was fulfilling two roles at the same time, "the role of a politically integrated Tibetan-Canadian, as well as the role of 'ambassador' of Tibet."…”

Political Activism in Canada: When Tibetans in Toronto Enter into Local Politics

“…25 This background can be useful when running for election, especially if the candidate runs a grassroots campaign, which is what Bhutila Karpoche and Kalsang Dolma did. In a somewhat similar situation, Senator Moua and Representative Thao, who came to represent more than 60,000 Hmong Americans in Minneapolis-St. Paul (United States) between 2003 and 2010, had also put forth an activist background-Cy Thao presented himself as a community activist and artist, and Mee Moua, as a lawyer and activist for social change (Hein and Vang 2015). This self-presentation, which may be partly strategic, also shows a strong continuity between the two phases of the migrant's political integration.…”

“…What is at play is "long-distance nationalism" (Anderson 1998) or "transborder nationalism" (Brubaker 2010): the Tibetan government-in-exile is engaging in an "external politics of belonging" to offer Tibetans in Toronto "new forms of external membership" (Brubaker 2010:77), while Tibetans in Toronto are then expected to become "ambassadors" of Tibet. This idea that home governments can view emigrants as resources is not new (Hein and Vang 2015;Itzigsohn 2000) and leads to the debated question of dual loyalties.…”

“…However, it remains debatable what the end-stage of the process of political integration really entails. The example of Senator Moua and Representative Thao has shown that politicians with an ethnic background are expected to rally on campaigns to defend specifically ethnic causes (Hein and Vang 2015). It is as if Bhutila Karpoche were fulfilling two roles at the same time, the role of a politically integrated Tibetan-Canadian, as well as the role of "ambassador" of Tibet.…”

“…Just as a war is difficult to wage on several fronts, a game is more difficult to play in different arenas comprising different audiences, each one of which deserves specific strategies. The examples of Kalsang Dolma and Bhutila Karpoche, but also of Senator Moua and Representative Thao (Hein and Vang 2015) tend to show that, in some cases, it is unlikely that players will completely let go of previous arenas of engagement, which is sometimes done so as to better adapt the game to the new arena and the new audience. I would like to suggest that this is particularly the case for players who share a strong ethnic identity which lies at the core of the first arenas of engagement-both Hmong and Tibetans are fighting for an endangered homeland.…”