Tamagringo: Citizenship and Community Change in Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Abstract

This thesis explores a relatively new migration pattern of North Americans to Costa Rica and the ways in which these migrants are changing landscapes of belonging and membership in the communities in which they settle. The number of affluent, transnational "amenity migrants" has been growing worldwide in the past decade, yet little is known about their impacts in receiving communities. Through semi-structured interviews with both Costa Ricans and North Americans in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, textual analysis of newspaper publications, and participant observation, I argue that North American amenity migrants are reworking the parameters of citizenship and democracy in Costa Rica. Even though they are not legally entitled to participate in the political process, foreign amenity migrants' economic power radically transforms social and cultural landscapes in Tamarindo. In addition, these affluent amenity migrants influence political decision-making processes in ways that often marginalize local Costa Ricans economically, politically, and culturally.