Issue 56 of REMHU, the Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Mobility, features the dossier “African Migrants in Latin America”, organized by professors Nanneke Winters and Franziska Reiffen, from the University of Mainz (Germany) in partnership with CSEM.
The various articles in the Dossier mainly highlight the subjective dimension of the integration processes of African migrants in Latin America. Although conditioned by structural factors - such as political circumstances, economic crises and migratory regimes - these migrants have generally creatively implemented integration strategies in the Latin American social space, taking advantage of the socio-cultural tools available both in the land of origin and in the land of arrival. Knowledge learned since childhood, links with migratory and family networks, support from organizations and human rights activists are just some examples of the “tools” used to promote integration. desired insertion on that continent.
The emphasis on insertion desired aims to highlight the heterogeneity e uniqueness of the migratory projects of African migrants in Latin America. The length of stay and the family focus, for example, have a radical impact on the type of integration desired, which in the magazine's dossier is also referred to as “make-place”: the “non-places” - in the sense of Marc Augé - anonymous, lonely and without memory, in the land(s) of arrival and transit, tend to be transformed, in some way, into relational places, family.
This “make-place” is indispensable, both for the success of the migration project and for the psychosocial well-being of the people involved. From this point of view, the REMHU Dossier presents and reflects on the numerous integration strategies of women and men from Africa who, in Latin America, inevitably transform the physical and social places where they pass through and reside, establishing relationships with locals, with the diasporas and, sometimes, with migrants from other countries, even intertwining transnational contacts with their families.
These insertion strategies, which are generally contextual and temporary, show, on the one hand, a certain form of protagonism - agency - on the part of migrants and, on the other hand, challenge the formulation and implementation of public integration policies, which are generally not very sensitive to the real needs of these migrants, especially when they are religiously different compared to national traditions.
Access REMHU issue 56 by clicking here.
Roberto Marinucci
Editor-in-Chief of REMHU Magazine