[Review of] Alyshia Galvez, Guadalupe in New York: Devotion and Struggle for Citizenship Rights among Mexican Immigrants

Alyshia Galvez\u27s Guadalupe in New York is an important contribution to a growing body of sociological and anthropological work devoted to immigrants and their fight for basic human rights in the United States. Galvez, a cultural anthropologist, uses interviews and observations to study the process of guadalupanismo (worship of Mexico\u27s patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe) among recent Mexican immigrants in New York City. Between 2000 and 2008, Galvez gathered information on Marian worship by following members of comités guadalupanos, or social groups organized by parish, and explains her methodology in a useful appendix. Galvez argues that through these comités, undocumented Mexican immigrants engage in political, activist activities which enhance their sense of well-being in material, lived and symbolic ways while their juridical status remains unchanged (4). More specifically, it is Galvez\u27s sophisticated and subtle observations on the connections between religion, politics, and transnational space that make her book a solid foundation for future ethnic studies