The management of difference: reflections on policies concerning immigration and the control of foreigners in Portugal and Brazil

Abstract

ResumoO artigo propõe uma reflexão antropológica sobre as legislações portuguesas de controle da imigração e concessão de nacionalidade, comparadas às leis brasileiras que dispõem sobre o ingresso, permanência e saída de estrangeiros no território nacional brasileiro e o instituto da naturalização. A intenção é usar um exemplo particular europeu de "manejo da diferença" e compará-lo ao atual contexto legislativo brasileiro (incluindo o projeto lei 5655, em discussão no Congresso Nacional Brasileiro), tentando identificar semelhanças ou distinções significativas. Mesmo tratando de contextos muito diferentes, considero que a comparação detalhada dessas legislações pode trazer alguma contribuição para entender os processos contemporâneos de administração da migração internacional e da produção da ilegalidade e invisibilidade dos imigrantes. Palavras The Management of DifferenceReflections on policies concerning immigration and the control of foreigners in Portugal and Brazil. Igor José de Renó MachadoThis paper compares two ways of considering foreigners expressed in legislation designed to control foreigners in Portugal and Brazil. The comparison is important precisely because of the ambiguous construction of differences and similarities between the two countries (Feldman-Bianco 2001), which were involved in a long colonial history that even included inversions of the colonial pact (Mota and Novaes 1986). Because the two countries exhibit distinct strategies for dealing with diversity, they can contribute to an analysis of the consequences of certain legislative perspectives.This ambiguity has been revealed in these two bodies of law about foreigners that offer a reflection on alterity and reveal how the distinction between Brazilians and Portuguese is expressed in the rules produced by each state. First, I will compare the character of the sets of laws: we will see that the Portuguese legislation about immigration and nationality implies a negation of difference, while it simultaneously defends a generic idea of "Portugueseness" (within this set of objectives, Brazilians are considered to be a special case, because of the ambiguity referred to above). To the contrary, Brazilian legislation is configured less as a set and more as a line with lots of deviations. The basic perspective of the law is an attempt to immobilize difference, which is always seen as a threat and not as a consideration about Brazilianness. The threat is mainly seen as political, given that the legislation was designed towards the end of the cold war, by a dictatorial government strongly allied to a U.S. perspective.The substantial legislative activity in Portugal, concerning the entrance, departure and permanence of foreigners, is a clear indication of how the intensity of the flows has challenged convictions about nationality and distilled feelings of apprehension and resistance. In a quite peculiar political context, 313 vibrant v.9 n

Duplo pertencimento cultural: filhos de casais luso-brasileiros em Portugal

“…As narrativas acima corroboram os estudos prévios que evidenciaram as dificuldades de inserção social e laboral devido aos estereótipos associados, sobretudo, à mulher brasileira (França, Padilla, 2018;Padilla, Ortiz, 2017;Pinho, 2014;Malheiros, 2007). A forte produção científica sobre esta Carla Martins Mendes, Andrea Seixas Magalhães temática, principalmente ao longo dos anos 2000, destacou o papel da mídia portuguesa na ampla divulgação de episódios de migrantes em situação ilegal ligados à prostituição ou à criminalidade, estimulando a generalização de estereótipos e preconceitos ligados à figura da mulher imigrante brasileira em Portugal (Machado, 2012;França, 2012;Pinho, 2014;Malheiros, 2007). Independentemente da condição social e econômica, os estigmas percebidos pelos filhos em relação aos pais revelam uma tendência à privatização das relações familiares como forma de proteção contra a estigmatização.…”

Postcolonial social drama: The case of Brazilian dentists in Portugal

“…Designed to comply with EU policies of border security and movement control, the laws positively discriminated in favour of immigrants from former colonies. Many Brazilians in Portugal argued that these discriminatory acts still did not match the treatment that former waves of Portuguese migrants had received in Brazil (Alencar, 2010; Machado, 2012).…”