Trajectories in Regional Spaces: The South American Conference for Migrations – Mercosur and Its Impact on Migrant Citizenship Building

Abstract

International migration is a multidimensional phenomenon that becomes visible with globalization because it surpasses the nation-state’s responses and institutional mechanisms. It is necessary to put forth the key concepts of migratory governance, social capital, and citizenship building, or “citizenization,” as crosscutting issues linked to each other from the international to the regional and local. Untangling these dimensions based on the experiences of the South American Conference on Migration and the Mercosur allows the author to describe how migration is handled in a contemporary setting. This qualitative, descriptive research project applies direct observation, documentary analysis, and case studies. The author gathered and analyzed primary sources such as the statements of international organizations and regional consultative forums, applicable legal norms, etc., plus secondary sources (theses, essays, scientific research articles, and publications, among others). Using direct observation, case studies, and semi-structured interviews, she delimits the qualitative aspects of her object of study, migratory governance, and the links between social capital and practices of “citizenization.”