Although this article is an introduction to a special journal edition on Peruvian migration, it introduces us to a mobility that is also not part of the everyday conversations of migration within the Americas. For the most part, when we think of migration in Latin America, we think of Mexicans or Cubans in the U.S. or southern cone migration (Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile) to Western Europe.
In the article, the authors argue that one of the main drivers for the diversity in destinations by Peruvian migrants is its own rich history of receiving migrants from around the globe. I would not dispute this fact; however, the same can be said for places such as Mexico and Cuba. Would geographical proximity and the imaginary of the American Dream play a stronger role than historical links?
Since the article is an introduction, it surveys Peruvian migration from about the 1930s onward. For our purposes however, it allows us to see how Peruvian mobility outside its borders is as diverse as the destinations.
Following the wave of Political refugees in the 1930s, migration in the 1950s and 60s to the U.S., Spain and Argentina vary widely on ethnicity, social, and political backgrounds. While the majority going to New Jersey and Florida were Peruvians with indigenous backgrounds, whereas those going to Spain and Argentina were for the most part were upper class Criollos (Spanish ancestry). Just as a side note – Criollo, is not the equivalent of Creole in English or French. Whereas Creole in the latter two languages refers to a mixing of cultures, in Spanish it refers to the polar opposite.
The case of Spain is particularly of interest when it comes to Latin American migrations in general, and for this article, Peruvian mobilities. Following the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act in the United States, which made border control and migration a much more difficult endeavor, Spain was entering a period of prosperity; much of it as a result of its entry into the European Union after the fall of Franco and the country’s transition to democracy.
From the late 80s until Spain’s housing crash and recession in 2009, the country was a magnet in attracting unskilled and semi-skilled labour from Latin America. This type of migration was a strong shift from the traditional migration (50s to late 60s) from Latin America, which was mostly made up of wealthy students enrolled mostly in Law and Medicine. This shift is demographics, coupled with Spanish law, which allows citizens from Latin American countries, the Philippines, and Guinea (former colonies) to apply for citizenship after two years of residence, as well as to keep dual citizenship. In fact, Spain became the destination for the majority of Peruvians after the United States.
Now, if we take the assumption that migration is mostly done for economic reasons, then logic would tell us that since Spain’s recession, coupled with Peru’s rapid economic growth from 2000 to 2015, people would return in order to take advantage. This however, did not take place for at least a couple of reasons. First, many Peruvians had established themselves in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, etc., which made giving up all they worked for to move once again not a choice one wanted. Second, many of the Peruvians in Spain were from indigenous communities in Peru; and since many left Peru because of the discrimination they faced, even a severe economic recession did not make it palatable to return to Peru.
What do you think?
In this week’s text, Takenaka et al. put Peruvian migration into a more global context. I would like to highlight some key points, which I found exceptional for this group in question.
First, besides the diverse ethnic and class background of emigrants, I found the rural-urban perspective and the “stepwise migration process” of the study very interesting, as Tekenaka et al. state that “Peruvian emigrants come from both rural and urban areas. Unlike Mexican and other migrants, who often emigrate directly from rural areas, Peruvian migrants from rural backgrounds tend to migrate first to urban areas in Peru and then to other countries” (p. 7).
Second, the gender perspectives are also well detectable in the text: it shows the gender bias of migration trajectories as most of the Peruvian women who have emigrated do domestic or care work in the U.S. (South Florida), Spain or Italy and later in Chile and Argentina, while men tend to do unskilled blue-collar work in industrial areas (p.5). Tekanaka et al. also present a group of émigré women who become breadwinners for their families (p.5). I understand that as a counter-concept of male-led (“pioneer”) migration, which we have seen in the week 4 in the case of Mexican immigrants in the U.S.
Japan’s immigration policy to encourage Japanese-Peruvians to return to their (ancestors’) homeland is another fascinating point. Similar return and readmission programs and policies are also common in Latin-America nowadays. A good example is the “PLAN BIENVENID@S A CASA: Por un Regreso Voluntario, Digno y Sostenible” of the Ecuadorian government from the late 2000s to encourage expatriates to return to their home country by providing them different benefits and services. These were not only available online but also in the so-called “casas ecuatorianas” in NYC, Madrid and Milan, where most of the Ecuadorian emigrants reside. Here is a brief presentation of the program: https://www.oas.org/es/sedi/ddse/documentos/mide/taller_migrantes/3.%20Holguin%20-%20plan%20bienvenidos%20a%20casa%20-%20Ecuador.pdf
As for the discrimination of indigenous communities mentioned by Dr Rubio, around 300 000 women got sterilized during the 90s, which President Fujimori and his administration (at least) oversaw back then. Most of the victims were indigenous (Quechua) women from rural communities. I could imagine that this horrible and cruel crime of the Peruvian Authorities has been a push-factor for many indigenous Peruvian as there has not been any compensation nor reparation yet for the victims and their families in a legal sense, despite the number of deaths due to the dangerous operation. Here is an article about the case and the recent action suit brought before the UN by the National Organization of Indigenous Andean and Amazonian Women: https://www.humanosphere.org/human-rights/2017/05/peru-indigenous-group-brings-forced-sterilization-case-to-un-court/
I would disagree with your observation that “when we think of migration in Latin America, we think of Mexicans or Cubans in the U.S. or southern cone migration (Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile) to Western Europe.”
Maybe this is because of my own experiences, but when I think about migration from Latin America, I immediately think about migration to two countries: Spain and the USA.
For the Spanish-speaking, I found a statistic by the “Instituto Nacional de Estadística”, which shows that the two biggest Latino minorities in Spain are Ecuadorians and Colombians (in 2016: 158.967 and 135.954 residents, respectively, with only 71.062 Argentinians. I think this does not take into account already nationalized Latinxs, but I still would argue that migration from Northern South America is greater in numbers than that of the cono sur, at least in Spain.
https://www.ine.es/prensa/np980.pdf
Regarding the text, I have a few questions about the “Quinto Suyo”: Is this exclusively a political poject created by the state, or does the name exist for other projects, also? I ask this because when I googled it, I found a documentary about afro-descendants in Peru with the same name.
I also wonder if this project has something to do with the “marca Perú”, an attempt of the Peruvian State, in my opinion, to tie “modern” nationalism to neoliberal policies. (the official homepage says: “La Marca Perú es una herramienta que busca impulsar el turismo y las exportaciones. Para atraer inversiones, transmite con eficacia la propuesta de valor de nuestro país.”).
I found that this week’s text provided a very comprehensive overview of Peruvian migration, noting the differences in the various types of migration, the causes for migration, the diversity in the migrants, and the impact of such migration on the local community.
Indeed, in the case of Mexico and Cuba, it can also be said that they have had a rich history of receiving migrants from around the globe. While it is highly likely that the geographical proximity and the idea of the American Dream played significant roles in bringing this trend about in those two countries as well, I personally believe that the deeper historical ties and greater influence that America has exerted over Mexico and Cuba throughout their history played stronger roles in bringing about this trend. Although geographical proximity may have encouraged migration from Cuba or Mexico to the United States, in the case of Peru, the United States is still a significantly closer option for international migrants, as compared to Europe or Japan, which requires them to cross an ocean and makes it extremely difficult for them to return for a visit whenever they would like to. As such, geographical proximity ought to play a role in encouraging greater migration to the United States for Peru as well. In recent decades, the American Dream itself has also become increasingly unrealistic, with Latin American migrants themselves being aware of the dangers and troubles that they have to face even if they migrated to the United States, and the increasing loss of hope and belief in the idea of the American Dream, not only amongst the migrant community, but also amongst American citizens. With the reduced likelihood of one achieving the American Dream today and the greater economic opportunities available in other countries, it would seem that migrants, who have considered their options realistically, would prioritise the economic opportunities available internationally over the possibility of achieving the American Dream.
Something I found interesting was that, considering the discrimination against the Japanese and the negative perception that the Latin American local community had of the Japanese immigrant community in Latin America (which we read about several weeks ago in Hu-DeHart and López, 2008), I did not expect any significant migration from Latin America to Japan. I wondered if that is strictly restricted to the descendants of Japanese emigrants or included some Latin American locals as well.
The text also mentioned that Peruvian migrants tend to follow step-wise migration, which refers to migration from rural areas in Peru to urban areas in Peru before leaving for another country. Since there is such a difference between Peruvian migrants and other migrants (including Mexicans), is there a reason why Peruvian migrants choose to adopt step-wise migration? What is the difference between Peruvians that carry out internal migration and those that carry out international migration (if there is any)? What are the deciding factors that migrants use to decide whether to migrate internally or internationally (especially since international migration is shown to bring about greater economic benefits, p.7)?
In addition, although the author points out that there is inequality in who gets access to the migrant networks, he does not further elaborate on this. How is the access to such migrant networks determined, and what are the factors influencing the access that one had to such networks?
The text offers indeed a quite general overview about Peruvian migration, which I think is useful as an introduction but insufficient. I would’ve like to read one of the mentioned articles included in the issue, especially the one from Ulla Berg about the incorporation of Peruvian emigrants in national polity through this sort of “extraterritorial membership”. What I found most interesting about this concept is that we actually get to observe, not only in the case of Peruvian migrants but in general, how the states redefine, at its whim, their national sovereignty and who’s in a position to be regarded as a citizen. I’m not really sure whether this “incorporation” is to be considered as democratic progress or as an economic project disguised as such, aimed to financially profit from emigrants whilst eluding tasks, which are inherent to the state obligations. Ultimately, by wilfully conferring –or extending- rights and imposing –or aggregating- duties, the state get to reinforce nationalist discourses while reconfiguring itself “as a labor-exporting state in the global economy” (Takenaka, Paerregaard, and Berg, 2010: p. 10). Agreeing on that basis, a very important question rises here: to what extent are transnational groups factually transnational?
I have to agree to disagree with Andrés on the general thought of migration in Latin America, albeit we’re dealing with a constantly evolving imaginary. The new Working Holiday Program introduced between some European and Latin American countries is also rapidly changing this picture, yet I, being myself a South American, have to admit that when I think about (e)migration in Latin America I also think about the US and Spain.
This week`s text was a usefull overview on Peruvian Migration and it gave insight in the different thematic aspects of Peruvian migration in the section of “this issue“.
Especially interesting to me seemed the change or shift from the U.S., as the first main destination country, to Spain as the main destination country right after the U.S. and the conection with, first, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of the U.S., which shifted Migration to other american, asian or european countries. And second the special law in Spain that facilitate residence and cititzenship for citizens from Latin American countries, the Philippines and Guinea. Quite ironic to me seemed the facts that all of this areas had been former colonies and the need for unskilled, and I imagine, cheap, labour in Spain.
In this context I remember conversations with two friends, both latinamerican, one of them lives in Spain, and their experiences of discrimination that Latinamericans face in Spain today.
I also have one question about the text: On page seven is mentioned that the Peruvian state has taken steps to include Peruvians abroad in a new state- migrant- relationship due to the high migration rate of Peruvians.
In which actions consists this new state- migrant- relationship or what woud be examples for including peruvians abroads to processes that take place in Peru, beside integrating Peruvians aborad in an imagined new peruvian nation. What would concrete examples be for implementing Peruvian migants in actual and ongoindg issues in Peru?
Access to migration networks creates social inequalities, it differentiates between those with a wider range of options for employment and settlement, and those who do not have this privilege and must face their problems while remaining in Peru. I could understand why the population remaining in Peru would feel distanced from other Peruvians who are able to immigrate out of Peru, when the former also wants to extend the borders of their employment and opportunities. Then the Peruvians who have migrated speak of this fear of coming back to Peru because the rest of the population looks at them as if they have abandoned their neighborhood and their country, but wouldn’t the remaining Peruvians that know successful immigrants also have access to migration-networks once the migrant returns to Peru? Even if they’re coming just for a visit, I think the population knowing the immigrants would want them to, because they can use their connections and knowledge about possible migration for their own sake.
I can relate to the immigrants’ desire to move socially vertical, sometimes people feel trapped in their own situation and believe a geographic change into new surroundings will provide such opportunities to re-invent oneself.
I would like to try and pitch in on Julia’s question: I think one way to incorporate Peruvians living abroad in Peruvian state-matters is to allow them to participate in national votes. It depends on the country, but sometimes citizens living outside of the nation’s borders are not allowed to vote, so this would be one way to spur nationalistic emotions. Another way would be to grant returning immigration with tax benefits and financial support upon return to Peru.
This week text i see more as introduction to the theme, it gives us an idea where topic is going, but doesnt goes straight away in it, so it gives us an opportunity to form kind of first imprassion about Peruvian migration.
I would like to highlight that focuses that author brings up can be used not only for the topic of Peruvian migration, but also for other countries migrations.
1. “How does relations of inequality and structures drive people from different class, religion and ethnic backgrounds to migrate both internally and international?”
2. ” How does migration effects those relations and structures?”
Answering these questions it is possible to bring out, firstly, push factors that makes people migrate, besides economical crisis, political instability or structural adjustment, but i would add a simple human factor. Human factor – aswell as selfrealisation. We want our family be proud of us, or we want give our children a better possibility in the future.
Secondly, speaking about how does that can effect, if people migrate and then make a migration associations in the cities where they settled on some point it would influence city/ region/ country.
As we read in on of the text from previous weeks – migration that last couple decades, bring influence on the culture, national music, cuisine, even language.
This week’s text by Ayumi Takenaka et al. provided us with a more general and brief overview of the history of Peruvian migration in a global context. It is mentioned that Peru has one of the highest rates of out-migration in Latin America today, and that it has become an “emigrant country” characterized by an exodus of Peruvians from almost all social classes and ethnic backgrounds migrating to a wide range of destinations across the globe.
What I found particularly interesting is the growing number of Peruvian women who have migrated in recent years and become the “breadwinners” of their families back in Peru. I think that looking at this phenomenon through a gender lens would offer a striking perspective on how migration might positively influence the facilitation of a new image of the role of women in the family and the economy, and how, over time, this might lead to changed gender norms and differently perceived gender roles.
Another aspect mentioned in the text that was of great interest to me, is how the Peruvian state tries to “reclaim” Peruvian emigrants and incorporate them into a redefined transnational Peruvian nation. I know that many governments of sending countries try to incorporate their emigrant citizens into a specific national or nation-building project, for an example to seek support for certain policy goals, but in the Peruvian case, the symbolic inclusion of migrants through a fifth “region” or El Quinto Suyo seems to be unique in a global context. For further research, I would be interested in finding out how El Quinto Suyo was perceived in those parts of Peruvian society, which do not have access to migrant networks, and if El Quinto Suyo achieved its goals among the Peruvians living abroad.
The text raised several questions for me. Some of which have been touched upon by other
comments.
1. Immigration from Peru to the world seems to be highly supported by all societal classes
as a possibility to climb the social ladder. How does the government react to a good chunk
of its population leaving the country for ever? Especially loosing highly qualified workers in
an economic recession must be hard. Do they try to encourage young people studying
abroad to come back to Peru and work there?
2. Since Peru is such a country of migration and many people have moved there in the first
half of the twentieth century who have still ties to their former homeland. Is it noticeable
that more people remigrate than native Peruvians leave?
3. Mr. Rubio mentioned that despite the crisis most of the Peruvians living in Spain did not
remigrate because they were already settled in deeply. I think this is hard to believe
considering that most of them are illegal immigrants who probably would have been among
the first to loose their jobs. Or wouldn’t it have worsen their situation dramatically?
4. The text mentions that it will be discussed in a later article but I’d be interested in this
subject nevertheless.
How is the widespread status of illegality treated in the Peruvian society? Especially
because it’s associated with many risks and uncertainties like being send back to Peru.
5. Lastly I want to touch upon another point Mr. Rubio mentioned: The influence of the
American Dream. I think although realitiesI have shifted and the US is further away from
paradise than ever, the dream lives on. The US is THE country of immigrants and
symbolizes the possibility of climbing the social ladder all the way up. Plus, it has all the
needed ties to help immigrants establish themselves there.
Hi Sarah,
Just to reply to point number 3. Spain had a number of regularizations from 1998-2005. This allowed about 90% of Peruvians in Spain to become permanent residents, and later Spanish citizens after two years. The vast majority of Peruvians (with the majority of Latinos that arrived prior to 2005) are currently Spanish citizens or have permanent residence.
Hey,
thank you for the interesting insight!
I did not know that Spain used to have a program like this. This of course changes the picture. Having an European passport does give some stability in a crisis situation and stopps you from leaving the not too bad situation in Europe. (I imagine Spain in crisis still being mor economically and living standard wise stable than (rural) Peru)
This week’s text aimed to focus on different ways in which Peru was affected by the migration of its people, be it by a changing hierarchical structure in its society by incoming immigrants from other countries or by money transfers which had an economic effect. Aside from the fact that this introductory article provided information about the (migration) history of Peru I liked how this article talked about the functions that migration can take and how the ability to migrate can be seen as a status symbol for both rich and poor.
On the one hand there was the already well known motive of migrating for the sake of finding a better life, which referred mostly to the poorer population. There is however, another way to look at this. Migration was also favored by higher class Peruvians as their children received their education abroad. It may be worth noting here how people from colonized countries tended to pursue their education in the countries that colonized them in the first place.
I also liked how this article was a good example for something that I would call migration exchange. Usually when I think about people migrating, I imagine one group of people going to another country for work. In this case however, as in some previous texts, one can see how for instance Peruvians went to work in Japan and then later some Japanese people came to work in Peru. To me this shows how migration is not a (for the lack of a better word) “one way street” but can function exchange wise.
This week’s reading was about Peruvian migration in a global context. As this text was very short and only an introduction, I would like to highlight some points that were new and interesting to me.
1. The exodus of Peruvians took place from almost all the country’s social classes and ethnic groups ( not only the lower class). For some people migration served for a social uplift, but especially for Peru’s impoverished urban poor, emigration was seen as the only way to make a living.
2. Argentina and Chile became destinations for poor urban Peruvians in the second half of the 1990s because it can be reached by bus at a low cost. For them it was like “a last resort”.
3. What is striking about Peruvian emigration is the diversity of its emigrant population (due to the history of immigration to Peru) and destinations .
4. Peruvians from rural backgrounds tend to migrate first to urban areas in Peru before they head for other countries. This really shows their struggle, as if their only purpose in life was to find a place to make a decent living.
I would be interested in learning more about the “new imagined Peruvian community”.
I learned much about Peru in general which awakened my interest in the history of this country I somehow always gave short shrift to and do not really know why. So I was glad when I saw that some texts for the upcoming weeks are about Peru.
First to the text itself:
It is a good example of showing how the intersectionality of class, race, ethnicity and gender comes into play in the process of migration. But being based on the idea of permanent entanglement of various factors, it seems to me that the causes and consequences of Peruvian migration around the world are presented in an oversimplified way at some points. This certainly is due to the introductory purpose of this very short writing, but often the statements follow an “action-reaction” scheme. The focus is much on the government regulations and presents the changes and the behaviour of the people as following consequences (only) based on them.
One example which you find on page 6 maybe explains more precisely what I mean:
“Almost simultaneously in the late 1980s, the Spanish, Italian, and Japanese governments passed new immigration laws that encouraged the importation of foreign unskilled workers in order to satisfy their growing need for labor in domestic work and manufacturing.”
This fits well into the discussion from last week on the agency of individuals in nation-state ruled environments. The introduced articles of Elena Sabogal and Lorena Nuñez seems to pursue this topic and even go one step further by asking “how illegality is conceived, negotiated and contested by middle-class Peruvians” (p.9).
I would be very interested in reading these articles and the one about the “Quinto Suyo” written by Ulla Berg, but despite creating a SAGE journals account I did not get full access to it. If it is possible to upload them, I would be very grateful!
Secondly, to the circumstances in which this article came into being:
What a privilege to be able to meet with other scientists for one week at the expense of a “generous grant from the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Mellon Foundation” (p.3) to discuss issues which interest you anyway. For sure this is an exception but I imagine that to be a very fruitful and also nice way of working.
And thank you, Aron, for the article about the case of mass sterilizations which occurred during the second term of former dictator Fujimori (whose daughter Keiko still was the conservative presidential candidate in the last elections). It is very worth reading!
As many of my classmates have already expressed before me, I also think that this article presents a broad and interesting basis for understanding Peruvian migration.
The aspect that presented the main difference between the migration patterns that I know (regarding Mexico) and the one from Peru is the aspect of gender. Whereas a lot of Peruvian Women seem to be migrating to the USA and Europe, the largest part of Mexican migrants are men (cf: “La composición por sexo indica el predominio de hombres en relación con las mujeres migrantes mexicanas en todo el horizonte de análisis, sobre todo durante 2007-2010, periodo en que se observa, año con año, un descenso en las entradas de migrantes” Gaspar Olvera 2012 https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-75992012000100004)
Why is this so? My thoughts led me to make hypotheses about the way in which migrants are traveling to the different countries and I assume, that the ones going to Europe -and maybe the USA- parting from Peru might have a safer and less perilous way of traveling. One of the arguments about the large proclivity of Mexican men migrating are the dangerous routes, which must be endured, and often women are not seen as capable of making such a trip, or they might think that men have a better chance of succeeding… I don´t know, any thoughts about it?
The other question, that awoke my curiosity is the one planted by Sabogal and Núñez about the different conceptions of legality depending on social class („(…)migrant´s ideas about and practices of illegality may be a reflection of their class position in Peru prior to migration “p.9) unfortunately the whole argument was not revealed, but maybe it theorizes about a connection between the elites and the legislative branch.
At last I would like to refute one of the conclusions of Prof. Islas as to why, despite the Spanish economic crisis, Peruvians (presumably with an indigenous background) didn’t return to Peru. Prof. Islas stated that they might have stayed in Spain due to classism or/ and racism they experienced in Peru. But I think that a lot of Latin-Americans in Spain suffer a great deal of racism as well (I based my opinion not only in my personal experience, but also in testimonies of friends and acquaintances. A lot of other testimonies are available in many well-known journals online e.g: https://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/Espana-gente-considera-racista_0_623288396.html9), so I don’t think that the presumed lack of racism is the deciding factor. Maybe most migrants have better living conditions in Spain despite of the crisis, that the ones in Peru with or without one.
This weeks Introduction text gives a compact overview about Peruvian migration and their position in a globalized neoliberal world. Its interessting to see how population dynamics are changing over centuries and which reasons make people leaving their home.
As I dont want to repeat what was mentioned allready in other comments I want to highlight what cought my attention.
„From 1940 to 1981, the population of Lima increasied from 645,000 to 4.6 million inhabitants (Golte and Adams, 1987), and today the city has some 8.7 million inhabitants of a total population of 28 million (INEI, 2008).“ (p. 4)
That is about 8 million people more, than roughly 75 years before. How do we deal with that global exodus from rural areas? What about this neoliberal capitalistic system needs to change that people dont feel the need to leave their provincial background for a better living?
After reading so much on Asian immigration in Peru and having the great input by Aron (thanks :D), I’m glad we got to read an introductory text to Peru as an emigrant country. I enjoyed the historical account of initial mass migration to the US and would love to read more about the establishment of the Peruvian communities in the US in order to understand their choice of settlement, particularly regarding the gender aspect (women migrated to the South of Florida, while men migrated to New Jersey to work in the textile industry – which I knew as typically female labor!). It’s really fascinating to examine the process of certain factors such as gender and class determining where large communities of migrants will be established.
This week’s reading is very interesting and leaves me with many questions about Peru’s emigration trends and effects. Since immigration turned into emigration from Peru to a growing variety of destinations, it is no wonder why the Peruvian government wants to expand nationalism efforts internationally, perhaps to maintain social Peruvian ties with these emigrants to encourage them to continue sending remittances back to Peru to support the economy. However, I wonder if this strategy of strengthening ties with Peruvian emigrants is effective in the long run. This only manages the issue of brain and labour drain in Peru; without having these emigrants come home to help with the development of Peru, how will the country progress moving forward? I know in one of the readings, we read about how the Peruvian government managed to attract Japanese migrants to Peru but is the solution to brain and labour drain to attract other migrants to do the job?
Another point that I found interesting is how migration helps Peruvians climb up the socio-economic ladder. I would think that even if migrants send remittances back to Peru, their family members back home would not have much opportunity to advance on the socio-economic ladder in Peru in the long run. With underdeveloped industries and little job opportunities, additional financial resources might allow them to live a better life but I doubt local Peruvians have many opportunities to invest in skills building or education in Peru to empower themselves. Such opportunities are probably more abundant overseas and once again the vicious emigration cycle begins. It would be interesting to see future studies on second and third generation migrants and how they remain (or lose contact) with Peru.
The relation between the historical background of Peru and the diversesity of the distination countries is definetly one importand aspects but also, I guess, that the text makes this argument a bit too strong. There are most likely other important aspects such as the policy or economic situations in the destination countries. Mexicos historical and colonial background is more or less similar to the Peruvian while the Mexican migration is more concentraded to the United States. Hence for the Mexican example the direct and very long border to the United States could be more important than the colonial link to Spain. Furthermore the in the text mentioned numbers of Peruvians living abroad shows that also for the Peruvian example the migration to the United States (around one million) was ten times of the migration to Spain (120.000). In the end the post-colonial boundaries between the United States and Peru seems to be more significant than the colonial background of Peru and the diverse heritage of the Peruvian population.
I share the interest of my classmates of being able to read at least one of the papers that are mentioned in the text. I found the approach of the article by ángeles Escriva, Ursula Santa Cruz and Anastasia Bermudez of particular interest. The reason is, as many have already stated in previous comments, that the gender perspective of migration is not very frequently seen, and because the idea of women migrants who become the “breadwinners” of the is rather unheard of at least in the public discourse.
The other reason why I found the little that is to be read about that article interesting is the idea of role and social identity change through migration. I’d be very interested to see how it is that traditional gender roles and gender conceptions are broken or distorted in the process of migration and would be also interested to find out if these traditional gender roles tend to reinforce themselves upon return to the origin country, or upon arrival and settlement in the destination country.
I generally liked the Takenaka/Paerregaard/Berg paper for giving the reader a broad insight into the Peruvian migration history, but it left some questions too.
There were two research results that especially interested me. The first one was the upcoming of a partition in the Peruvian class system into socioeconomic more successful families with emigrated members and families without emigrated members, which is turning the socioeconomic system upside down. I am wondering if the backflow of remittances, causing this phenomenon, could have also positive effects on population parts without migrated family members in terms of remittances inversion and (maybe) therefore resulting new jobs. This could weaken the new socioeconomic partition in the different social status groups, of course without eliminating it.
Secondly, I was very interested in the Peruvian government policy trying to implement Peruvians living abroad into their agenda. Reading this part of the paper, I was somehow reminded of the recent EU-Turkish conflict about Turkish politicians trying to influence their citizens living in the EU. I think it would be very interesting to compare this conflict and for example these policy strategies of the Peruvian government. I would also like to know if, maybe, Peru or other Latin American states already discovered the possibility to use their expat communities for their foreign or domestic policy or it some states are already doing it.
This text by Ayumi Takenaka, Karsten Paerregaard and Ulla Berg published in 2010 is the Introduction to an article about Peruvian migration in a global context. The two questions raised and treated by this essay are: how do relations of inequality and structures of domination in Peru drive people from different class, regional and ethnic backgrounds to migrate, and how does migration affect those relations and structures?
The main issue is to try to understand why so many Peruvians emigrate(d) around the world. In fact, 10% of Peruvians live abroad, and half of them are undocumented. Throughout the 80ies and 90ies, Peru became an emigrant country, mainly because of the neoliberal policies implemented by the successive governments, which increased the impoverishment of Peruvian (especially urban) poor.
There are two topics in the article that raised my interest. First, the fact that exodus happens in all social classes and ethnic groups, which proves that migration is seen as the only way of achieving upward social mobility and sustainable livelihood. I had the impression that the process of migrating is considered as something inherent to the idea of individual achievement. Already in the middle of the XXth century, the Peruvian high society sent its sons to Argentina and Spain to study. Naturally, some of them stayed there and contributed to the Peruvian diaspora’s growth.
Secondly, I enjoyed the fact that this essay also considered the migration process and Peruvian diaspora’s analysis through a gendered lens. For example, it addresses the issue that the Peruvians in Italy working as domestics reproduce the same gender and generational relations of inequality as in Peru. It also analyses the role female migrants played in domestic politics in their country of origin (for example during the presidential elections in Peru in 2006).
This text offers a great introduction to an overview of the Peruvian emigration from class, gender, transnational, regional, social and economic perspectives. It also briefly explains the factors of emigration and explores the impact emigration has on the Peruvian-state policies and what it changes in the Peruvian society, including the tensions. The articles presented by this introduction also consider the destination countries and investigates the political factors influencing this choice.
I liked this text because it gave us a clear and concise overview of the Peruvian emigration. I think it was one of the first times since the beginning of the class that the authors of the text didn’t look into binational migrations (or migrations between two specific regions of the world) but gave us a broader/global context of emigration. For instance, former immigration waves from specific countries (Japan, Italy, US…) helped to strengthen relations between Peru and these countries that became today destination countries for the Peruvian emigrants.