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The Culture of Migration in Uruguay

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The Culture of Migration in Uruguay THE CULTURE OF MIGRATION IN URUGUAY By HOLLY PATRICIA BRAUSE A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Holly Patricia Brause 2 To Mark Brause and Katherine Kahl 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to acknowledge the Center for Latin American Studies for providing the funds for this research. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Phil Williams, Dr. Marianne Schmink, and Dr. Adrián Félix, for their insight and guidance throughout the research and writing processes. I also thank Dr. Charles Wood for his valuable contribution to the beginning stages of this research, and Dr. Richmond Brown for his support and encouragement as my advisor. I would also like to thank Andrea and Fernando, the Prudenza Ugartemendia family, and Leticia and Javier in Uruguay. Besides their wonderful hospitality, they were incredibly helpful in establishing contact with informants, and very patient with my constant questions. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the Uruguayans who took the time to sit down and share their experiences, opinions, and ideas with me about migration, their country, the world, and life in general. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 9 Overview ................................................................................................................... 9 Statement of Problem and Research Questions ....................................................... 9 Review of Literature ................................................................................................ 10 The Field of Anthropology in the Study of Migration ......................................... 10 Theories of Migration ........................................................................................ 14 Culture of Migration .......................................................................................... 15 Neoclassical Economics ................................................................................... 18 New Economics of Migration ............................................................................ 19 Migrant Network Theory ................................................................................... 20 Structuralist/ Marxist ......................................................................................... 21 Transnationalism .............................................................................................. 22 The State as an Actor ....................................................................................... 23 Highly Skilled Migration .................................................................................... 25 Brain Drain ....................................................................................................... 25 Brain Gain ........................................................................................................ 27 The Approach to this Study ..................................................................................... 28 Methods for Data Collection .................................................................................... 29 Grounded Theory .................................................................................................... 31 Outline of Chapters ................................................................................................. 32 2 THE HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT OF MIGRATION ......................... 34 Immigration, Emigration, and National Identity ....................................................... 34 Batllismo and the “Golden Era” of Uruguay ...................................................... 36 The Economic Decline and Dictatorship (1955-1985) ...................................... 38 Post-Dictatorship Recovery .............................................................................. 41 Economic Crisis of 2002 ................................................................................... 41 Migrant Demographic Profile .................................................................................. 42 Why Emigration is a Problem for the Uruguayan State ........................................... 43 Loss of Human Capital and its Impact on Development ................................... 43 Demographic Concerns .................................................................................... 44 Action Taken by the Uruguayan State .................................................................... 44 Post-Dictatorship Governmental Action on Migration ....................................... 44 Frente Amplio and the New Politics of Migration .............................................. 46 Uruguayan Migrant Receiving Counties .................................................................. 50 5 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................... 52 3 THE CULTURE OF MIGRATION IN ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA ............................... 54 Section 1 - Evidence of a Culture of Migration ........................................................ 56 Immigrant Past ................................................................................................. 56 Identity and dual citizenship ....................................................................... 57 Sons and daughters of immigrants ............................................................ 58 Homeland Transnationalists ............................................................................. 59 Transnational employment ......................................................................... 60 Personal networks ..................................................................................... 61 Imagining the exterior ................................................................................ 63 Unmet Expectations ......................................................................................... 67 Middle class lifestyle .................................................................................. 67 Education of children ................................................................................. 68 Meaningful employment ............................................................................. 69 Social mobility and social prestige ............................................................. 70 Perception of cultural decline ..................................................................... 71 Section 2 – Cultural Reasons to Stay and Acceptable Migration ............................ 72 Staying is the Best Option ................................................................................ 72 Rooted in culture ........................................................................................ 73 The importance of family ............................................................................ 74 Life is Not Always Better Abroad ...................................................................... 77 Personal and social cost of migration ........................................................ 77 Migrant experience of downward social mobility ........................................ 78 Insecurity of undocumented migrants ........................................................ 79 Opportunity and Justifiable Emigration ............................................................. 80 Personal and intellectual development ...................................................... 81 Return – expectation versus reality ............................................................ 82 Migration of the highly skilled ..................................................................... 83 Migration of the particularly talented .......................................................... 84 Nunca Se Sabe – You Never Know ................................................................. 84 National crises ........................................................................................... 84 Legacy of insecurity ................................................................................... 85 Acquisition of foreign citizenship ................................................................ 86 Personal Crisis ................................................................................................. 87 End of romantic relationship ....................................................................... 87 Business or professional failure ................................................................. 88 Lack of direction ......................................................................................... 88 Migration as a Backup Plan .............................................................................. 89 Changing Tendencies ...................................................................................... 89 Fewer people emigrate .............................................................................. 89 Lack of migration data ................................................................................ 93 Summary of Findings .............................................................................................
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