Transnational Heterogeneities: Migration Configurations in the American Southern Cone (1970–2020)

This chapter discusses the patterns and contradictions at play in different forms of transnational migration within, from, and to Latin America, with a particular focus on the Southern Cone. To achieve the above, we draw on our research experience in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, contrasting it with a state-of-the-art review on Latin American transnational migration. We will first analyze the period that spans from 1970 to 2001, characterized by the tensions formed by the end of the Cold War, globalization, and an emerging “multicultural euphoria” bound to late-twentieth-century neoliberalism. Second, we will focus on “de-globalizing impulses” that characterize the transition period from 2001 to 2015. Third, we will discuss “post-globalization” and the so called “migration crisis” in Latin America that took hold from 2015 onwards. In closing, some analytic reflections will be provided on the uses of migrant transnationalism in South America.