International migration is a constant reality in Latin America

Latin America was for several centuries an important destination for various European, African and Asian populations. Beginning in the early 1960s, Latin Americans began to migrate to the United States and Canada in larger numbers, followed by interregional migrations within the continent, and, during the 1980s and 1990s, transoceanic migrations to Europe and Japan. Today, several Latin American countries have ceased to be countries of emigration and are again receiving more immigrants relative to the number of nationals who go abroad. As such, Latin America constitutes an exemplary case for studying migration as an enduring feature of both national and regional histories; for exploring the changing directionalities of emigration and immigration movements over time; for juxtaposing population movements generated by shifting constellations of economic crisis and political violence; and for considering how these specific regional realities are reflected in migration research carried out in the region by Latin American researchers.

In the latest special issue of the Journal ÍCONOS: Revista de Ciencias Sociales – edited by DIIS Research Coordinator Ninna Nyberg Sørensen and Research Director Gioconda Herrera, FLACSO Ecuador – six articles discuss international migration in Latin America from exactly these angles. The Introduction, written by the two editors, gives a broad historical and regional overview of populational and migration research specific trends. Liliana Rivera Sánchez analyses how both internal and international migration have influenced the Mexican migration research agenda; María Mercedes Eguiguren discusses the national evolution of mobilities in Ecuador; Eduardo Domenech and Andrés Pereira look at the intersection of migration studies and academic research in international migration policy in Argentina; Carolina Stefoni and Fernanda Stang discuss the ground on which migration research became established in Chile; and Amarela Valera Huerta explores present insecurities confronted by irregular Central American migrants traveling through Mexico.

The articles are followed by a visual essay by Ulla D. Berg and Jennifer Castro entitled “Confined Bodies, Resilient Souls”, focusing on art produced by migrants detained for deportation in the United States.

All articles are in Spanish and can be downloaded free of charge