Transnational Family Life among Peruvian Migrants in Chile: Multiple Commitments and the Role of...

Transnational Family Life among Peruvian Migrants in Chile: Multiple Commitments and theRole of Social RemittancesAuthor(s): Lorena Núñez CarrascoSource: Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Vol. 41, No. 2, Introduction: TransnationalFamilies in the South (SPRING 2010), pp. 187-204Published by: Dr. George KurianStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41604350 .

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Transnational Family Life among Peruvian Migrants in Chile:

Multiple Commitments and the Role of Social Remittances

Lorena Núñez Carrasco*

INTRODUCTION

Most of the literature on migration and transnationalism has focused on migration from the South to the North. By focusing on Peruvian migration to Chile, this paper explores some of the characteristics of the social reproduction of transnational families across two neighboring countries in the South and in doing so it aims to contribute to an emerging debate on South- South migration.

It is estimated that approximately 3 million Peruvian are currently living abroad.1 After decades of migration, today countries such as the USA (Berg 2005; Paerregaard 2005), Spain (Escriva 2005), Italy (Tamagno 2002; 2003) and Japan (Takenaka, 2005) are host to consolidated Peruvian communities which originated from various regions and social classes in Peru. Changing economic and legal environments in the recipient countries at times created and in other times restricted, opportunities for new Peruvian emigrants. In the 1990s, as migratory controls in the North tightened and the pressure to migrate increased in Peru due to political instability and economic crises generated by the Fujimori government, countries in the South became popular destinations among Peruvian emigrants (Berg and Paerregaard, 2005). Relatively more prosperous countries in the South- American region such as Argentina, Chile, and more recently Ecuador, emerged as alternative destinations offering economic opportunities, particularly for lower class migrants

Peruvian migration to various parts of the world makes a good study case to explore dynamics and processes specific to the South which are shaping migrants' transnational family lives. A regionally informed analysis needs to consider, for example, the extent to which geographical proximity between Chile and Peru favors "back and forth" mobility among migrants and their families in Peru as compared to more distant destinations in the North. Paradoxically in the case of Chile, its advantage of geographical proximity is weakened by economic and legal restrictions to migrants' mobility.

Focusing on the structural conditions framing migrants' transnational family lives, this paper highlights the emotional experiences of migrants and the efforts they make in maintaining their place within their families back home, on a par with their material contributions to those

* Forced Migration Studies Programme, Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, P.O. Box 76, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa. 'http: //www.oh peru.com/internet/extranjero.htm (accessed December 19, 2009).



1 88 Journal of Comparative Family Studies

families' livelihoods. It will demonstrate how emotions and remittances, financial as well as immaterial, are intertwined in a situation in which migrants try to maintain family relationships in two neighboring countries simultaneously, with all the concomitant complications.

It is common knowledge that migration increases the possibility of partners' splitting and the setting up of new families in the host society. Very often these events also interfere with the continuity and regularity of migrants' remittances. In contrast with other destinations, Peruvian migrants in Chile are mostly of lower-class extraction and from the northern coastal cities in Peru (Núñez and Stefoni, 2004). Another distinctive element is the high number of women, who migrate in their own right and are outnumbering men (Martinez, 2003). Are the migrants' class and gender backgrounds exerting any influence on the relationships they maintain with their families back home? In an attempt to answer this question, this paper examines the emotional side of family dynamics that span across national (but rather close) frontiers and the influence of contextual socio-cultural and economic factors in shaping these dynamics. By focusing on the emotional meanings of remittances, this paper brings into light often invisible processes that run parallel to migrants' transnational family lives, and at the same time ponders on whether the identified dynamics are specific to South-South migration.2

IVansnational Family Lives

The analytical lens of transnationalism provide of a particular way of theorizing socio- cultural, political, economic, religious relations and social networks that span across national borders (Faist, 2000; Portes, Guarnizo and Landlot, 1999). Transnational approaches examine migrants' dual engagements and belongings in two or more countries. Faist (2000) describes transnational migrants as often having their homes in two or more countries and carrying on dual lives, facilitated by the increased interconnectedness and people's mobility, allowing migrants for example to maintain continuous contact with their families back home, making it possible to engage in a transnational family life.

Within this perspective the term transnational family as defined by Bryceson and Vuorela refers to those families of which the members "live some or most of the time separated from each other, yet hold together and create something that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely 'familyhood', even across national borders" (Bryceson and Vuorela, 2002: 3). "Transnational family life entails renegotiating communication between spouses, the distribution of work tasks, and who will migrate and who will stay behind" (Pessar and Mahler as referred to by Levitt and Glick Schiller (2004). Furthermore, in everyday life important family decisions are often taken via long distance communications (Yeoh et al., 2004). While transnational migrants can engage in family lives across the most disparate locations, this paper is concerned with the extent to which a transnational family's life is shaped by the geographic proximity of two countries.

2 This paper is based upon my PhD research, completed in 2008. The research for the thesis entitled Living on the Margins: Illness and Healthcare among Peruvian Migrants in Chile was conducted under the auspices of the Section of Medical Anthropology of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre, in the Netherlands and was financed by the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO, grant WB-52-918).



Transnational Family Life among Peruvian Migrants in Chile 189

Transnational Social Spaces and Migrants' Experiences of Emotional Dislocation

The emotional experiences embedded in the dynamics of a transnational family life can be better understood by examining the axis of simultaneity in which such experiences occur. The distinction between "ways of being" and "ways of belonging" provided by Levitt and Glick-Schiller (2004) helps to elucidate the difficulties in reconciling the double orientation of everyday life of individuals in transnational social fields. They explain this double orientation as follows:

If individuals engage in social relations and practices that cross borders as a regular feature of everyday life, then they exhibit transnational ways of being. When people explicitly recognize this, they highlight the transnational elements of who they are. Then they are also expressing a transnational way of belonging (Levitt and Glick-Schiller 2004: 1008).

The possibility of double orientation as a feature of everyday life for migrants is often painfully experienced in the sphere of their family lives. The need for the physical presence of close family members as I argue here is connected to these migrants' identity and sense of self. As with other cultural groups close to an Andean tradition, their sense of self appears to be collectively oriented. This has been expressed by Markus and Kitayama's (1991) who understand connectedness and interdependence of the self as "seeing oneself as part of an encompassing social relationship and recognising that one's behaviour is determined, contingent on, and to a large extent organised by what the actor perceives to be thoughts, feelings and actions of others in the relationship" (1991 : 7). Migrants perceive themselves as being part of a family and community; it is a culturally constructed perception and central part of their sense of self.

In light of this collectivistic orientation, the distinction of Levitt and Glick-Schiller mentioned above could be reformulated as examining the emotional struggle of migrants' transnational family lives. Such a distinction can be expressed as "the impossibility of being" part of a family as a localized unit of biological and social reproduction. Connected to this "impossibility of being" is the "imperative of belonging" to a family collective that coexist in physical proximity. Belonging becomes imperative as that way of being actualizes migrants' sense of self. The "impossibility of being" is experienced by migrants as a form of emotional dislocation, a dislocation of their identity and self. This is particularly true for women in transnational motherhood situations for whom the notion of family in one place is painfully disrupted.

The Emotional Side of Social Remittances

The concept of social remittances helps to establish the relationship between providing financially and emotionally. This relationship is crucial for an understanding of how families maintain their emotional linkages across national borders. Levitt (2001) coined the concept of social remittances , i.e., ideas, practices, identities and social capital transferred by migrants or exchanged by letter or other forms of communication, affecting social relations and identities, and having a substantial impact on political, economic and religious participation.



190 Journal of Comparative Family Studies

Social remittances are functional to the reproduction of social relations. These forms of material and non-material exchanges introduce changes that are inherent to migration through a cultural flow that modifies the lives of those left behind (Levitt, 2001). Beyond the social and cultural impact of remittances there is an affective dimension that conveys meanings and confirms the nature of the relationship between sender and receiver. Iii other words, the flow of money, goods and communications that circulates across borders, "speaks" the emotional language of those involved in such exchange.3 This exchange helps to reproduce and maintain family relationships and hold family members together as part of a common unit.4

To understand the social and emotional work of remittances it may be useful to revisit Marcel Mauss' essay The Gift (1998 [1925]). In this work Mauss identifies the relationship between the circulation of goods and the social relations this creates. Gift prestations are "total social phenomena," simultaneously economic, juridical, moral and psychological (1998 [1925]: 10); "material things transferred between people are not inert but contain a spirit of obligation and a part of the giver that is 'to give something is to give part of oneself'" so that "the law of things remains bound up with the law of persons" (1998 [1925]: 58). Hamber and Wilson, following Mauss, express this in a similar way: "the objects exchanged are never completely separated from the people that exchange them and their social context of exchange, and thus the act of exchange is replete with rights and duties" (Hamber and Wilson, 2002: 44).

The objects sent back home are embedded in a social grammar of loss. The self is perceived to be under threat as what is needed for its actualization is not there; indeed "to be with others in the relationship" becomes impossible. Thus, beyond the immediate and functional utility of the objects sent-money, goods, letters, messages, calls-the goal of the remittances is to repair the void created by the "impossibility of being"; the goal is to restore the sense of self that transnational migrants experience as a loss. "Being with others" actualizes migrants' sense of self which can only be fully realized when life is shared in physical proximity with their significant others. The objects sent back home are aimed at filling up the void created by migration and are intended to confirm migrants place within a family constellation. Beyond the cultural innovation resulting from social remittances, the meanings endowed to the objects transform them in carriers of emotions and intentions. The objects reproduce relationships, transmit peoples' concerns and care, and ultimately restore their sense of self.

Peruvians in the North and the South

Peruvian migration has spread throughout various countries across the world. It is a highly diversified migration but at the same time very structured considering that populations from specific regions in Peru tend to migrate to specific destinations abroad (Berg and Paerregaard, 2005; Altamirano, 2000). Initial flows of Peruvians abroad (to the USA, Spain and Argentina) can be traced back to the 1930s and 1940s and has incremented steadily during the 1980s and 3 Tamagno (2002; 2003) explores the emotional work of remittances in what she names "techniques of support and alert" between Peruvian families living between Mantaro Valley in Peru and Milan in Italy. These communication mechanisms help to maintain family members' connectedness, allowing them to participate in collective decisions, to provide each other support to achieve a collective welfare. 4 The emotional meaning of things that are exchanged is confirmed in its opposite; to signal emotional distance all forms of exchange (goods, remittances and communications) that previously filled up a particular relationship are often suspended.




1990s and diversified around the world. This exodus has been largely related to political and economic crises in Peru, particularly marked during the governments of Alan Garcia (1985- 1990) and Alberto Fujimori (1990-2001) (Altamirano 2000). A detailed analysis of the history of Peruvian migration abroad goes beyond the scope of the paper, however referring to some of characteristics of this migration in its main migration destinations in the North will assist in understanding what makes migration within the South different.

For many years USA has been the most important destination of Peruvian migration. The first wave of migrants, in the 1930s, consisted of political exiles. Later working class and rural migrants moved to work in the textile industry and Peruvian shepherds went to work in farms (Paerregaard, 2005). Upper middle class Peruvians went to the USA during the economic malaise of the 1990s (Paerregaard, 2005). More recently the tightening of migratory policies in that country have resulted in marked class segmentation among the new immigrants, who can access the country as tourists (Sabogal and Nunez, forthcoming). These requirements have discouraged many lower class Peruvians from trying to enter the USA.

Spain and Italy have been the preferred destinations of Peruvians in Europe. In was in the 1980s when larger number of Peruvians from lower classes migrated to Spain, facilitated by immigration laws which promoted the arrival of non-qualified labor to fill up the increasing demand for domestic workers and laborers in the manufacturing industry (Escriva, 2005). Migration in the early 1980s was based on parental and social networks. Later, the imposition of barriers for Peruvian and other Latin- American migrants increased the cost of migration to Spain substantially, as brokers began to intervene increasing the cost of migration. Escriva (2005) describes two current processes a) family reunification and family formation and b) the acquisition of the Spanish nationality. Both Spain and Italy continue to attract a large number of Peruvians, amongst other things to benefit from the amnesties that these governments offer to undocumented foreigners (Berg and Paerregaard, 2005).

In the 1990s Japan favored Peruvian immigration by allowing the descendents from Japanese that lived in Peru to take up temporal occupations in that country (Takenaka, 2005; Berg and Paerregaard, 2005). A large number of men migrated to Japan to work in the manufacturing industry.

Several factors contributed to Argentina and Chile becoming the destination of choice for Peruvian migrant workers from the mid-1990s onwards: other attractive migration destinations had become very difficult to access, for instance due to the ever-tightening US immigration reforms and similar trends in Spain, Italy and Japan. The relative economic prosperity of Argentina and Chile and Chile's new democracy made of these countries attractive new destinations for Peruvian migrants seeking employment across borders. Chile became the principal destination after Argentina's severe economic crisis in 2001 (Berg and Paerregaard, 2005). 5 Shared language, geographical and cultural proximity as well as relatively low cost

5 According to the 2002 Chilean Census, the registered foreign residents numbered 184,464, representing 1.22% of the total population. Peruvians represent the second largest immigrant community numbering 39,084. Overall this group has grown at the fastest pace. Between 1992 and 2002, the Peruvian presence increased by 400% (Martinez 2003). Over the last years this trend has continued to increase. The constant flow of remittance money reveals the existence of strong linkages migrants maintain with their places of origin. There is a month-to-month flow of capital generated in Santiago and sent to Chimbóte, Trujillo and Lima-the cities of origin for most migrants in Santiago.




made a migratory move first to Argentina and later to Chile a very achievable target for several sectors of the Peruvian population (Núñez and Stefoni, 2004; Núñez, 2002).

The more affordable cost of the trip to these two countries as compared with destinations in the North6 partly explains the fact that migration is performed mostly by migrants from lower socio- economic strata (Núñez and Stefoni, 2004; Núñez, 2002). Furthermore, the geographic proximity offers the possibility of traveling frequently between the home and the host country, a factor which has contributed to the consolidation of a transnational community living across Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Methodological Background

The information presented in this paper was obtained through a combination of research methods which included:4 ethnography and participant observations; in-depth interviews and a household survey conducted among Peruvian migrants residing in downtown Santiago de Chile. The fieldwork was conducted in different periods between the years 2002, 2003 and 2004. The area chosen for the study was in the vicinity of Plaza de Armas, the central square in downtown Santiago. Plaza de Armas is known for being the main gathering point of the Peruvian community in Chile's capital city. Deteriorated buildings surrounding Plaza de Armas have over previous years been increasingly used as residences by the Peruvian community in the city. The shared housing unit chosen for the fieldwork was located just a few blocks away from Plaza de Armas. The majority of the migrants living there had their families back in Peru.

While I initially conducted the ethnographic fieldwork in the building mentioned above, I later established contact with occupants of eight other buildings located in the vicinity. Doing ethnographic fieldwork I become aware of the dual geographical and emotional reference of migrants, as well as of the intensity of the material and communication flows circulating between various locations in Santiago and specific cities in Peru. Consequently the fieldwork evolved into a multi-sited study (Marcus, 1998), extending to these buildings and comprising a household survey among their inhabitants, especially in Bandera Street. The total number of adult migrants living in the eight buildings later selected amounted to 373.

The chosen setting probed to be representative of the larger migrant Peruvian community since people living on Bandera Street shared similar socio-economic and cultural characteristics with the migrant population living in other buildings in that area. As it became clear during the course of the fieldwork, the majority of these inhabitants originated from similar Peruvian cities, being extracted from impoverished urban population living in coastal areas in northern Peru. They found migration to be the only way out of poverty. In Chile, they all lived in similar conditions and occupied similar niches in the labor market. These migrants move through migratory networks, connecting people in their places of origin and destination.7 Hence, when they arrive in Santiago, they often live in the same residential areas. A second group of

6 A bus trip to Argentina or Chile takes two or three days with a cost of approx. USD 100. 7 As Paerregaard (2003) contends, the networks Peruvian have created when migrating transnational^ are embedded in pre-existent social relations of three different kinds: i) patron client-relations used to recruit rural labor to Peru's haciendas, mines and domestic servant industry; ii) migration networks that grow out of the massive rural-urban migration experienced in the twentieth century in Peru; and iii) ties of kinship and marriage between members of the same household or extended family.




migrants who were interviewed lived in the district of Estación Central in similar adverse conditions. This residential area began to be inhabited by migrants more recently than Plaza de Armas. In these various sites 30 in-depth interviews were conducted with migrant men and women. Other sites of the ethnographic fieldwork were located in Peru in the cities of Lima, and in the mid-noith, Chimbóte, Trujillo. These places were visited at the end of the fieldwork, in July and August, 2004 when I met with some migrants who had returned to their homes in Peru.

Chile, an Adverse Environment for Migrants and Their Family Lives

A pronounced trend of the Peruvian migration to Chile (as well as to Argentina; cf. Zavala and Rojas, 2005) is the visible presence of women.8 Another characteristic is that these migrants, regardless of their educational level, find jobs only in the lowest economic strata of the labor market. Segregation in low-skilled jobs exists for both women and men but the occupational segregation of women is particularly striking; women find employment mostly as domestic workers in live-in regimes.9 The limited economic opportunities offered by Chile as a migratory destination make it difficult to afford for migrants to bring non-economically active family members with them into the country.

Peruvian migrants see Chile as a short-term destination, which makes their engagement in long-term projects there difficult.10 For the same reason, most migrants are hesitant to save with the goal of buying a house for example or purchase goods that cannot be sent back to Peru. This "short-term" approach persists in spite of the facts that they may have spent several years living in the same transient situation and that the poor living and working conditions are endured with the purpose of saving money to return home. As the trip to Peru is quite affordable, many migrants have moved to and settled in Chile more than once. This gives rise to an unintended circular migration pattern, whereby migrants who have made money return home and try to run their own businesses. When such ventures fail, entrepreneurial migrants find themselves forced to return to work in Chile. In this uncertain economic context, family reunification is not intended or seen as possible for most migrants.

Most of these migrants maintain a bi-national kinship network as members of their nuclear families, which remain in Peru. They provide economic support to their families through monthly cash remittances, which is the main goal of migration, particularly for those migrants who have left their children behind.11 However, the unstable economic engagement of migrants

' 8 In 2002, 60% of Chile's Peruvian migrant population was female (Martinez, 2003). 9 According to the census of 2002, 71% of the Peruvian women work in domestic service. In the case of men, 26% work in the service sector, 22% in commerce and 18% in the industry (Martinez 2003: 43-44). 10 Migration to Chile seems to start as a temporary move as only 14% of respondents wished to stay permanently in Chile. Most of the surveyed group declared they wanted to either migrate to a third country or go back to Peru. 11 The survey conducted showed that 81% of those polled had sent money home at least once during the last six months. The regularity with which the money is sent home and the amounts sent allows us to verify the degree of economic responsibility migrants have with their families in Peru. Those who have children in Peru tend to send more money-and with more regularity-than those who did not. The survey results indicated that 60% of those who have sent remittances six times over the last six months had all their children living in Peru. Another 35% of this group had some of their children there. An additional influencing factor is the age of the children. Similarly to other contexts (Suro 2003)Younger children in Peru are supported with greater regularity by their migrant parent(s).)




in the Chilean labour market, leads them often to face problems in meeting their commitment of regularly sending remittances. Migrants need to save and they do so-for example, in housing, health or entertainment. The continuous increase of the dollar's exchange rate at the time seriously impacted migrants' ability to meet required remittances. In addition, financial demands for children's maintenance in Peru often increased, making it even more difficult for migrants to fulfill their economic commitments.

DIFFICULT FAMILY REUNIONS

As a general rule, migrant workers first come to the host country alone. After the first member of a family has migrated, others may follow. It is expected that soon the newcomer will become economically independent. The arrival of new family members is mainly driven by economic criteria; the ability to work and find jobs in Chile. There is also a residential pattern associated with family transitions. This begins when one member of the family-most often women-comes alone and shares a room with friends. As more family members arrive in Chile to join her, an independent room is then rented. Typically, women who come to Chile on their own, would work as domestics and enroll themselves into live-in systems. Eventually, partners may follow them, or they find another partner in the new country. In such situations, the woman may then switch to a "living-out" system, where she would rent a room and move in with her partner. In addition, migrants tend to share rented rooms in cheap and run-down accommodations. This oftentimes limits their possibilities of hosting family members and these locations are particularly inadequate for children.

No Room for Children

When facing problems in sending money to support their families in Peru, parents may decide to bring their children to Chile. This is never an ideal situation, as parent workers usually have to leave their children alone in the rooms-in an insecure and inadequate environment and without the support and supervision of the extended families as is the case in Peru. When a new family member is born in the host country the economic participation of the woman is interrupted for a protracted period affecting the migrant family's finances. Migrants refuse to leave their small children in Chilean crèches, as they do not trust the care given there. This distrust is to the extent that they would prefer to take their children back to Peru rather than arrange for day care in Chile. Young couples especially resent having to be separated from their newborn children, a forced separation that causes great emotional strain.

Migrants' Limited Mobility

In general, if resources are available and the legal status in the host country is not a problem, Peruvian migrants in Chile may travel back home during Christmas, Mother's Day, birthdays or school graduations. However, migrants often face several impediments to travel. Limited mobility is the result of many factors such as a lack of resources, difficulty getting time off at work or having irregular legal status.12 Indeed, migrants who do not have regular visa status 12 The survey showed that 19% of the polled people were in irregular legal situation, 54% had temporal visa (one year renewable visa conditional on the possession of a work contract), 24% nad a permanent residence permit and 3% had a tourist visa. In 2007 the Chilean Government gave amnesty to 20.000 Peruvian migrants who had an irregular situation in the country.




know that by leaving they would risk not being allowed back into Chile again. This is difficult in situations where migrants cannot be present in times of illness or attend the funeral of a close family member in Peru. Migrants who enjoy more mobility are those who hold permanent visas to reside and work in Chile, as they call it la definitiva (the definitive one). Yet, for migrants who have la definitiva, returning home to deal with urgent matters may involve quitting their jobs. Typically, in cases of serious illness or a death in the family, employers are only willing to grant leave for one week.13 Often the only way to be able to remain in there for a more extended period is to resign from their jobs.

Separations and Conjugal Arrangements

Migrants refer to their permanent and stable relationships in Peru as mi primer compromiso (my first commitment). This socially consented union has as much strength and validity as a legal marriage. In fact legality is not seen as something necessary to assure a couple's mutual obligations.14 Having a socially validated partner commitment, as well as one's own family, is an important value for the migrant community. It legitimates migrants' endeavors and justifies their sacrifices, although-in practical terms-married migrant men and women live separated from their families in Peru.

Migrating tends to cause great tensions in the stability of partner relationships. Couples often face problems in remaining loyal to each other. New relationships are often formedin. . the host country among lonely migrants. Men and women, now living the same migrant life- sharing houses and rooms, combined with the emotional burden of being far from home and family-share a close physical proximity and common experience. They have similar needs of emotional support and can offer each other company. These circumstances often lead to the establishment of new conjugal relationships. This helps each participant to cope with the distance and unbearable loneliness of being away from their spouses and families. Such living arrangements may well coexist with an intended faithfulness with priority given to each one's first commitment , who still lives in Peru.

Migrants refer to the relationships that have been initiated in the temporal context as mi segundo compromiso (my second commitment). The moral standard of these relationships lays in the commitment of the new couple to continue sending money to their respecti vq first commitments and children in Peru. There is a general tolerance existing among migrants towards the setting up of second commitments which may often coexist with first commitments in Peru.15 They are all acutely aware of how important these relations are for maintaining their

13 The trip back to Peru by bus (the most affordable way to travel) takes a minimum of three days so often traveller may not reach home on time the deceased's funeral. 14 In general, couples may marry in Chile when circumstances oblige them to do so. This would be when this status is a requirement to obtain visas or to access to social benefits such as health insurance. More often, migrants may prefer to postpone marriage until they go back to Peru. Ideally, for a wedding party, they expect to have their relatives and friends present at the celebrations. The survey conducted showed that 30% of the surveyed people declare to be single, 37,6% live together in free union and 14,1% are married with their spouses living in Chile, another 14,1% are legally married with their spouses living in Peru. 15This practice of having first, second and sometimes third-class families may well be a continuation of a practise of men who already maintained a second family in Peru (due to for example internal migration or displacement during the violent Shining Path period). What seems to be new is that now migrant men find partners among women who are also migrant workers and may also have other relationships in Peru.




own emotional survival. While temporary relationships among migrants are quite frequent, these second commitments are not exempted from considerable emotional strain and painful break-ups. Information regarding such new couplings or love affairs among migrants in Chile is often quickly communicated back home by other migrants. This subsequently can trigger long distance conflicts.

Narratives: Dislocated Love, Broken Hearts

Migrants' narratives16 clearly show the impact migration has had upon conjugal relationships. Particularly, they demonstrate how migration most severely affects those who have left behind partners and spouses. Break-ups and contradictions in love relationships are entrenched within the dynamics of the current migration from Peru, as well as in the productive role women have taken, often with increased personal freedom.

Mario (43 years old) worked in the construction industry and lived alone in his room. After several love disappointments, he expressed what, in his view, had caused him emotional distress.

Not being able to form a good family (his voice is broken). To have a direct communication, like any normal couple. Never. Let's say we have had so many snags, maybe from my side, but also from her side. [...]. Everyone makes mistakes in life. Why? Due to lack of experience.

Cross border migration has further accentuated contradictions between gender ideals and reality, and this is often manifested in partner relationships. Some couples reunite, others undergo breakdowns followed by the setting up of new relationships. To a large extent men's emotional suffering can be found in the tension of these unresolved gender contradictions where men are engaging in relationships with women who have greater economic independence and mobility than before. Felix (32) expressed how he had unsuccessfully tried to overcome the problems in his love relationships in Peru and Chile:

To me, all that I carry inside, the break-up I have had with my partner [in Peru]. I have tried to fight, fight to get better, but I have not been able to overcome it and it is as if I have got traumatized or something like that. I don't like to fight with women, although sometimes I let my bad temper come out, but I don't like it.

Mario recalled the painful memories of finding out how his partner, having come to reunite with him in Chile, betrayed him. The decision he took was to send all his family back to Peru.

Yes I embarked them [in a bus back to Peru) and bye, bye [he said to them]. That is all. I did not wait to say goodbye, nothing. Good luck , take care my daughter, ok daddy, lam sorry, I have to leave, lam busy-l left. It was [he is crying] a shot that hurt too much. That is why I don't trust women much. I am a guy that first likes to talk. I like to talk to and establish a dialogue. [Suchas] hey, please don't do this to me.

l6The narrative approach used to migrants' emotional distress was supported by work of the following authors; Kleinman (1988); Beacon, Kleinman and. Seeman (2000); Lutz and White (1986); Nichter (1981).




When I ("L") asked Mario when he started feeling emotionally distressed, he said:

M: [I have got] this issue since about two and half years ago. Due to so many love problems [he has experienced] .

[..J L Do you think the cause of your sadness is that she left? M: Look, how can I say it? One has to be strong in this life and move forward that is all.

I hope one day I will not be betrayed by women anymore, then. . . [He cries]

Edwin had a sad love story too. Not having his visa/work permit documentation in order, he could not leave the country to join his partner in Argentina. This frustration led him to drink in excess and to not eat regularly, which he thought were the causes of his stomach aches. Edwin did not establish a direct link between the affective and emotional dimension that led him to abuse alcohol and his somatic symptoms. Additionally, his working conditions-long hours of painting and exposure to strong chemicals-had in his view, aggravated his somatic symptoms.

L When do you feel the stomach ache? E When I drink, the next day. When I drink and when I have worked in excess, when

I paint for long hours [as he breathes in the paint fumes]. ...When I was fine [before his love disappointment], I was never. . . I wasn't a drinker. I was quiet.

Disrupted conjugal relationships however, are only one-although very important-dimension of how migration affects families. In contrast with women, for some men a break-up with their partner in Peru may also mean the interruption of their role as provider for the children left behind. After a break-up with his partner Mario changed his priorities.

M: I totally forgot, I said to myself. Why should I work? What for? Why should I be sending [money] ? I am going to have fun , motherfucker! I began to buy clothing for myself. [. . .] I bought myself a TV set. It lasted one and half months and pum! I gave it away. I bought myself a music set. I had it two months and I gave it away; a microwave the same.

L Who did you gave these items to? M: To friends that were drinking with me. They would tell me: How nice, my brother.

Shit, learn so little, not like you. You earn fine. How I wish to buy [this ' for myself.

Mario could not sustain what was essentially a change in his gender role. He no longer had to save money to send remittances hence he had more money for himself. As a man who left his family behind his identity was very much shaped by his role and his priority as a provider. When he realized that he could spend money on himself he ended up giving the things he bought away to his drinking friends. Mario could not sustain his change in priorities, the change in status as a provider. The "impossibility of being" a provider (i.e., for his family in Peru) was what troubled Mario.

The next section discusses the effect that separation from family members has on migrants' personal well-being; the difficulties that migrants face in exerting their parental roles from a distance and the emotional role of remittances.




DISLOCATED FAMILIES, THE EMOTIONAL LANGUAGE OF REMTTIANCES

Migrants' narratives relate the multiple challenges they face when their families are left behind. It is precisely because migration involves changes in family dynamics that alternative caring arrangements have to be found if migrants want to maintain their places within their family back home. Family relationships can be maintained through phone calls, letters, e- mails, presents, photos, and particularly through remittance of money. The latter helps to assert migrants' authority-not only with their children-but also and more importantly, with other adults within their family units.

The frequency and regularity with which money is sent to Peru signal the affective proximity and migrants' responsibility to other members of their families. No matter how little their economic value, sending money and goods home was often the topic of conversation among migrant men and women. These conversations included their inability to save enough money and this was their greatest concern. Failing to send money often caused the caretakers of the children in Peru to complain. This resulted in additional economic strain upon families in Peru and also affected the relationship with them. In other occasions migrants talked with enthusiasm about their plans to repair or extend their houses back home, and set goals on what they would save for next.

Eliana, a 47-year-old domestic worker, was responsible for economically supporting her family. She continued to occupy the main authoritative role as her husband, although remaining at home with the children, provided minimal support. Eliana's symptoms of distress were triggered by the "impossibility of being" a mother, authority figure, and economic provider from a far distance.

Well, let's say when I have to. . .when I call to Peru. The situation of my children is what makes my blood pressure to rise up. [. . .] They call me. . . .A problem arises. . . It is then when-as people say here-I feel the bajon. I feel down. And then I begin with the headaches and I get quite depressed.

However, for Eliana ill health and motherhood coincided, particularly in the context of poverty and scarcity.

L How could one prevent this health problem? E Well not having problems. [She laughs] L It is very difficult. E Uff! Just imagine! Alife without problems! It would not be a life. (One has to) just try

to make it less (of a burden).. ..To be able to carry on, but sometimes, one says well they are grown-ups [her children]. I am not going to... [worry] but it is difficult. When one is a mother, it is difficult. Sometimes they [her friends] tell me, but leave them. They are your children but you end up getting sick. Every time they tell you something , you get sick. You end up sick.

Moving away from the emotional and physical closeness of family can also be very traumatic. This is especially true for migrants. Being part of a family and a community is an essential




dimension of their identity and their concept of self (Núñez and Holper, 2005). Being far from family compromises migrants' emotional stability. However, migrants see themselves obliged to endure adverse situations as they are providing crucial economic support to their families. Rocío (28) missed the physical and emotional presence of her mother. She could not sleep, and often felt an "oppressive weight" on her chest.

L When do you experience your distress symptoms? R When I can't communicate with my mother or when I don't know anything about

them, I get worried and I can't sleep. I say to myself: "why don't they call me? Maybe they are sick?" And I don't know anything [about them]. It is then, when I get a little bit ill. ... When I am quiet, I feel oppression on my chest.

To cope with her sadness and nostalgia, Rocío played home videos of her family in Peru. With the same purpose, Mario had written the names of his significant others on his body.

L Is that a heart? [The tattoo on his chest] M: [A heart] that flies very high. L When did you have done it? M: Two years ago. I did it because I wanted to have the names of my two daughters

written down here. Here Paola and Leni there. But at the end, I could not get them written because it was bleeding too much and it began to drip.

[..J L Why did you decide to have the tattoo done? M: Because I have them always present in my mind. L What are your future plans? M: To carry on, to go ahead for the wellbeing of my family.

Having left a family behind became a permanent concern for migrants, who felt responsible for their families' material well-being. Cesar made this especially clear:

L What is your health problem Cesar? С Let's say the health problem is that one is always thinking on what one leaves

(behind). [. . .] What is one's mother; how a family is constituted, that is. . . L What symptoms do you experience with this situation? С In what? In the preoccupation [I feel] about them. Because one feels preoccupied if

really-if really-are they doing as we are doing here? Are they better or worse? Always thinking on them [the family].

This concern was, to some extent, relieved by sending gifts to the family on birthdays, Mother's Day or Christmas. Conversations around planning what present will be sent to family members in Peru were very frequent. It was as if the sending of presents would set achievable goals for migrants. And, in doing so, this would help them to cope with the distance and their concern for the family's well-being. The sending of presents also served the purpose of sharing with those left behind, the benefits of the migration endeavor and their more easy access to modern technology. Among valuable items sent were mobile phones, DVDs, as well as clothing. However, calls received from Peru often brought urgent




and additional requests for migrants to quickly provide money to meet unexpected family needs.

Mario was very worried because he had not been able to send money to Peru for his nephew's studies. This was a promise he had made to the family. In this way, he expected to help his family to move forward and have a better future.

M: I promised to help my nephew, a nephew, you see? L To help him? M: To help him in his studies because he finished secondary school. He is in Peru, I did

send [money] the first time, but this time I haven't been able to send, you see? Because of "expenses here," "expenses there". . . The money is becoming shorter every day because things everyday are more expensive, and the dollar is also about to shoot up. So, řhave being very worried about this. Because I should have sent already USD 200, for him to quickly study. And that is what is making me cabezón [literally "big headed," meaning: my head is full of so much thinking]. I want to keep money aside and I can't. One thing is missing, another thing is missing. I run out of gas, fiick the room! [rent].

Such situations filled migrants' subjective and emotional world with worries and concerns for their significant others. Migrants complained that their families in the homeland did not always understand how difficult it was for them to save money and send it back to Peru. For young Peruvians like Javier, being an economic migrant meant suddenly taking on the role of provider for his family of origin in Peru. Javier felt the pressure of being unemployed in Chile and having to pay his living expenses without anyone to rely upon.

L So that was the pressure you felt? J: Yes, because sometimes one doesn't have a job. So how are you going to give it

[the money]? So you say "well I give it to you next month, OK?" But then you get it [distress] due to the pressure that you have to get the money together. Money to give, to give [how are you going to do it]? If you don't have a job, where [do I get the money] from? And depression [he felt] because I was far away from everybody.

For both men and women, being far from their families causes emotional suffering, increasing their emotional liability and vulnerability. Migrants lack the support of family. This creates an emotional void often filled by a constant concern for their well-being. As a way to cope with this feeling, migrants often try to compensate by sending presents to their loved ones. This in turn creates expectations in the recipients of these presents. In some cases, it becomes a pressing demand. When money is not available, such expectations and pressure creates even more distress among the migrants.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The close distance between Chile and Peru and the affordable cost of the trip has been an incentive for Peruvians of low class extraction to venture into the neighboring country in search of employment. In theory, this geographical proximity provides the best conditions for frequent contacts between migrants and their families back home and eventually, for




family reunification. This characteristic also introduces questions about the differences between cross-border migration and migrations to more distant destinations in the North. As discussed, this closer distance facilitates rather a "back and forth" movement of migrants, and eventually of some of their family members. In fact, the potential benefits of the geographical proximity are offset by the lack of economic opportunities Chile has to offer to Peruvian migrant workers. This lack makes it difficult for migrants to reunite with their family members in Chile, especially if they are children or dependents. The housing segregation results in poor living conditions and the inadequacy of migrants' living space for a family life.

The lack of opportunities furthermore frames a prolonged transitory state of mind, whereby migrants do not conceive Chile as a place to settle. They are limited in their possibilities of moving in and out of the country, due to visa difficulties (most migrants can only opt for temporary visas that can be renewed with a new work contract every year). In Chile, workers' rights are limited and holidays are often not granted in migrants' temporary work contracts. The perception of being close to home is therefore misleading, as migrants may postpone their family visits until they can embark on a definitive return, which may take years.

Migrants' class background facilitates the sociability and pattern of collective living and room sharing. This pattern is in turn conditioned by the lack of resources to rent independently and by the housing segregation that migrants experience in Chile, as access to accommodation is available mostly in dilapidated places. Socio-economic factors and the need of emotional support facilitate engaging in second conjugal relationship away from their families in Peru. Culturally, this practice may be legitimized among men, representing therefore more of a continuity with previous forms of relationships in Peru. However, this seems to be more of a new pattern for women. The gender composition of the migration provides a distinctive character to this cross-border movement. Women migrate alone to work and they gain an independence they did not enjoy back home. This new-found autonomy clashes with traditional gender" relations and men clearly resent loosing control over their partners, as reflected in their narratives. Women are also as limited as men in their possibilities to be reunited with their families, which is a cause of great emotional pain. Remittances speak an emotional language that fills the void of the lost sense of self. In this context, women's migration endeavors do not seem to clash with their moral commitments as mothers. On the contrary, it is in response to this commitment that women have migrated, leaving their children behind, as Parreñas found among Filipino women in the USA (2001 ; 2005).

Many men continue to provide for their children through remittances. In contrast with women, for Peruvian men the associations connected to fatherhood have not been redefined. Distant fatherhood mostly consists on finding ways to reassert men's authority within the household. The value of motherhood among migrant women seems to have been transferred away from their physical presence of raising their children at home. Similar to what Hondagneu- Sotelo and Avila found among Latino women in Los Angeles (1997), motherhood for Peruvian migrant women now extends to providing economic support to their children-even though this responsibility involves leaving them behind - leaving the children themselves under the charge of other family members.

Existing cultural patterns of collective motherhood prevalent among Peruvians are well established in Latin- American cultures. Reliance on grandmothers and compadres for shared




mothering comprises an emotional and practical resource for Peruvian as well as other Latino women (Hondagneau-Sotelo and Avila, 1997). Peruvian women rely on such support when making decisions about migrating. It is the cultural legitimacy of this kind of "collective motherhood" that enables women to exercise a transnational motherhood, while simultaneously relying on the physical presence of other female members of their extended families who take on an important role in looking after children and child rearing.

But migration also causes great tensions in the stability of partner relationships. Couples often face problems in remaining loyal to each other. This is particularly true when one partner stays away for extended periods-sometimes several years. New. relationships are often formed in the host country among lonely migrants. Men and women, now living the same migrant life-sharing houses and rooms, combined with the emotional burden of being far from home and family-share a close physical proximity and common experience. They have similar needs of emotional support and can offer each other company.

Being part of a transnational family in the case of these neighboring countries in the South places a great emotional burden upon migrants. Such a burden may be experienced in other contexts too but it is amplified in situations of limited mobility, where economic and legal factors keep family members apart. This paper has dealt with the frictions, ruptures and adaptations of Peruvian migrants leading transnational family lives in Chile. This has shown to be a context in which family reunification is not possible and the plan to settle is absent because it is simply not possible. This is a context of precarious living and working conditions which reinforce in migrants a sense of temporality. Therefore, it is argued that the context of this migration is different and possibly opposed to the experiences of Peruvian communities in the North, where the geographic distance is greater but the possibilities those countries offer make it possible for migrants to plan ahead, make possible family reunification, and to settle and have a family life.

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