SSIIM Paper Series Vol. 8
Acceso diferencial a la ciudad. Identificaciones y estereotipos entre los hijos de inmigrantes bolivianos y paraguayos en Buenos Aires
by Natalia Gavazzo
Considering that stereotypes are not just representations of society but might also become the social reality itself -by feeding social, cultural and religious exclusion of those considered “others”-, this paper examines the practices of identification performed by sons and daughters of “unwanted immigrants” in a particular urban context. The case study -Bolivian and Paraguayan “second generation” in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires city- has been approached through a twelve-years long ethnographic fieldwork. Based upon information obtained through different methods – i.e. interviews with descendants, their parents and some institutional key informants (both at the national and municipal level); analysis of communitarian publications and public policies documents; direct observation of migrants associations’ activities – this study provides key means to understand the perspectives, policies and actions that local governments are implementing to foster intra-regional immigrants inclusion into the society, in particular in the largest city of the country. Furthermore, the observation of migrants’ descendants’ modes of use and appropriation of urban public spaces is used to grasp the ways in which they frame governmental perspectives and actions for identity building and accessing rights.
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