Immigration and National Identity in Latin America, 1870–1930

Abstract

Although on a lesser scale than the United States, southern South America became a major receiving region during the period of mass transatlantic migration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even as the white elites of most Latin American countries favored European immigration in the late 19th century, since in their eyes it would “civilize” their countries, it was the temperate areas closely tied into the Atlantic economy as exporters of primary products that received the bulk of European laborers. Previously scarcely populated lands like Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil thus witnessed massive population growth and in some ways turned into societies resembling those of other immigration countries, such as the United States and Canada. This article concentrates on lands where the overwhelming majority of migrants headed, although it also briefly deals with Latin American nations that received significantly fewer newcomers, such as Mexico. This mass migration lastingly modified identity narratives within Latin America. First, as the majority of Europeans headed to sparsely populated former colonial peripheries that promised economic betterment, migration shifted prevalent notions about the region’s racial composition. The former colonial heartlands of Mexico, Peru, and northeastern Brazil were increasingly regarded as nonwhite, poor, and “backward,” whereas coastal Argentina, São Paulo, and Costa Rica were associated with whiteness, wealth, and “progress.” Second, mass migration was capable of both solidifying and challenging notions of national identity. Rather than crossing over well-established and undisputed boundaries of national identities and territories, migration thus contributed decisively to making them.

Has the World Cup become more migratory? A comparative history of foreign-born players in national football teams, c. 1930-2018

“…At the World Cups of 1934, 1962 and 2014, eleven out of the combined total of fourteen foreign-born footballers in the Italian team originated from Argentina or Brazil (nearly 80% of the number of foreign-born players). This high share of South American born football players competing for Italy is, as mentioned above, closely related to the emigration waves from Italy towards South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Goebel, 2016). Moreover, these South American competitions had, around the mid-1920s, no shortage of high-class footballers with Italian roots (Martin, 2004).…”

“…In contrast to the 'latecomers to immigration' , mainly South American countries quite recently experienced a change in the flows of migration; from immigration towards emigration (Goebel, 2016). Within the national teams of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay, an effect of this 'curling over' is, however, barely recognisable.…”

“…As not all countries have witnessed similar processes of migration within the same timeframes, differences in countries' histories of migration have arisen (Castels et al, 2014, p. 13-14;Czaika & de Haas, 2014;Flahaux & de Haas, 2016). During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Americas (North and South) encountered 'waves of immigrants' of which the vast majority hailed from (continental) Europe (Goebel, 2016;Pew Research Center, 2015). After this period of transatlantic migration, international migration decreased worldwide as a consequence of upcoming ideologies of nationalism, and the implementation of stricter national policies on immigration and naturalisation (Castels et al, 2014).…”

“…Following Jansen and Engbersen (2017, p. 3), we add a fourth category to the classification of Hollifield et al, (2014) to deal with the migration histories of countries like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay; 'former countries of immigration'. Before and during the 1960s, the South American continent was one of the top immigration destinations, especially for (Southern) Europeans (Goebel, 2016). Over time, however, these countries witnessed a reversed trend of the earlier mentioned 'latecomers to immigration'.…”

Bevándorláspolitikák és azok hatásai Latin-Amerikában (1850-1930)

“…A földrajzi viszonyok, klíma, politika, gazdaság, földkérdés, kereskedelmi kapcsolatok és infrastruktúra jellemzői mellett megjelennek a különböző foglalkozások átlagos bérei, illetve a megélhetés költségei is. 41 42 1850 és 1900 között a kontinens lakossága megduplázódott, 1930-ig még majdnem 70%-kal nőtt, ekkor már több mint 100 milliós volt a népesség (száz évvel korábban valamivel több, mint a tizede, 13,5 millió volt a kontinens lélekszáma). Öt évtized alatt Argentínába mintegy 4 millióan, Brazíliába 2 millióan, Kubába és Uruguayba mintegy 600 ezren, Chilébe 200 ezren érkeztek.…”