War-Uprooting and the Political Mobilization of Central American Refugees

This article examines mobilization for overt political activity, self-improvement, and productive work among four groups of war-uprooted in Central America: refugees from El Salvador and Nicaragua living in Honduras and displaced Salvadorans and Nicaraguans in their respective home countries. Modernization theory and much of the literature on refugees both suggest that their mobilization should be very low, but the level is high among Salvadoran refugees and relatively high among the internally displaced in both countries. Resource mobilization theory explains the differences among the groups in overt political mobilization, but does not explain mobilization for self-improvement and the acquisition of the skills of modernity. The differences in mobilization among the four sites can be explained by the past political experiences of each group, the perception of immediate threat, and the need for self-reliance after fleeing.