“Immigrants in the Imagination of the Nation. A vision from three Latin American Communities in Argentina”

GAVAZZO, NATALIA

Migration Matters. Immigration, Homelands, and Border Crossings

Routledge

Lugar: Leiden, Holanda; Año: 2009;

Although it is also a ‘sending’ country, immigrants from all over the world participated in the development and growth of the Argentinean nation since its birth, both as a labour force for the agricultural sector and also –at least for the liberal elites- as a force to “civilize” the native population. Functionaries and intellectuals who promoted immigration from Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century thought that European immigrants were going to “whiten” the local population, although the populations they received fell short of these expectations.  As such, although seen as key to modernization and as an important part of the national imagination, many of them suffered high levels of discrimination. In the twenty-first century, Argentina is still perceived and imagined as a “nation of immigration” but now immigrants come from other countries of Latin America and are perceived of as a “browning” factor. Like their “predecessors”, yet in new and different circumstances, the new immigrants have also suffered experiences that include being blamed for unemployment, insecurity and even for drug trafficking. Therefore, are they being ‘included’ or ‘excluded’ in the imagination of the Argentinean nation? What is the role that Latin Americans in Argentina play in the current construction of national projects and identities? How are Argentineans perceiving and including them in their ‘national imagination’? Thus, this paper will examine how contemporary migrations are being defined as ‘social problems’ in the context of debates about multicultural societies and how different actors, specifically the Argentine state and Latin American migrant populations -through their institutions and organizations- react to the phenomenon by changing the ways in which they imagine the nation.  It will examine how Bolivians, Paraguayans and Chileans who live in Argentina identify in terms of national identity and whether these identifications impact their possibilities for social and political participation in the receiving country.  The final aim will be to determine some of the strategies of the Argentine state for confronting the “problem of immigration” in the deepening of democracy in a global era, giving special attention to the place that civil organizations have played in struggles for recognition, rights and a social role for those frequently defined as ‘unwanted’ immigrants. Although it is also a ‘sending’ country, immigrants from all over the world participated in the development and growth of the Argentinean nation since its birth, both as a labour force for the agricultural sector and also –at least for the liberal elites- as a force to “civilize” the native population. Functionaries and intellectuals who promoted immigration from Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century thought that European immigrants were going to “whiten” the local population, although the populations they received fell short of these expectations.  As such, although seen as key to modernization and as an important part of the national imagination, many of them suffered high levels of discrimination. In the twenty-first century, Argentina is still perceived and imagined as a “nation of immigration” but now immigrants come from other countries of Latin America and are perceived of as a “browning” factor. Like their “predecessors”, yet in new and different circumstances, the new immigrants have also suffered experiences that include being blamed for unemployment, insecurity and even for drug trafficking. Therefore, are they being ‘included’ or ‘excluded’ in the imagination of the Argentinean nation? What is the role that Latin Americans in Argentina play in the current construction of national projects and identities? How are Argentineans perceiving and including them in their ‘national imagination’? Thus, this paper will examine how contemporary migrations are being defined as ‘social problems’ in the context of debates about multicultural societies and how different actors, specifically the Argentine state and Latin American migrant populations -through their institutions and organizations- react to the phenomenon by changing the ways in which they imagine the nation.  It will examine how Bolivians, Paraguayans and Chileans who live in Argentina identify in terms of national identity and whether these identifications impact their possibilities for social and political participation in the receiving country.  The final aim will be to determine some of the strategies of the Argentine state for confronting the “problem of immigration” in the deepening of democracy in a global era, giving special attention to the place that civil organizations have played in struggles for recognition, rights and a social role for those frequently defined as ‘unwanted’ immigrants.