Migratory Processes in Argentina

Abstract

The chapter summarizes migratory processes in twentieth-century Argentina, situating the interrelationship between the main immigrant/emigrant flows, contemporary political events, and their impact on the construction of identity representations incorporated in social, State, and political discourses. It shows how migrations impacted the configurations of feelings, conditioning perceptions of otherness that cannot be derived tacitly from ideological or political frameworks. Although more diffuse than an ideology, these configurations are useful as guides for action, composing social frameworks on what generates attraction or rejection, what is beautiful or frightening, and the boundaries between what belongs or not to the imagined national community. The text addresses three historical moments. The first, from the late nineteenth century to 1930, is characterized by the great wave of European migration. The second period, from 1930 to 1983, saw that migration cease (with exceedingly small exceptions), but the process of internal rural to urban exodus began, restructuring the cartography of (cultural and political) identities. During this time, civil and military governments succeeded each other in Argentina. Military dictatorships tended to be restrictive regarding migrants’ entry and their access to documentation, while democratic governments promoted instruments to facilitate their insertion. Finally, the chapter analyzes the period from 1983 onward, in which peaks of xenophobia can be identified against Latin American immigrants, especially in the mid-and late 1990s. In each of these three periods, we discuss the scope and limitations of the policies that sought to facilitate migrant access to documentation and basic rights.