ABSTRACT
Employing a bi-national historical framework, this chapter attempts to understand the political trajectory of Chicago hometown associations (HTAs) in relation to an evolving series of state projects on both sides of the border. It argues that various state actors in Mexico and the United States played powerful roles in reshaping the HTA political agenda, in part by rescaling that agenda and, along with it, the structure of HTA organizations themselves. Drawing on theoretical insights into the scalar processes implicated in state-led economic and political restructurings, the chapter examines the scale shifts that accompanied HTA activity across three distinct historical moments of development. The three historical moments are gradual shift in scalar engagement from local to national Mexican politics; a proliferation of scalar involvements; and a "tipping" of scale that occurred post-2005. The chapter helps the reader to understand the odyssey of the HTAs in relation to the shifting, scale-inflected projects of different state actors in Mexico and the United States.
