Colombian transnational families : experiential, emotional and relational dimensions of migration

Cette thèse souligne l'importance des aspects affectifs et relationnels de la migration pour les Colombiens migrants vivant à Montréal, qui s’occupent de leur famille transnationale, tout en refaisant leur foyer et en élaborant leur projet de vie. L’accent est mis particulièrement sur les dimensions vécues et émotionnelles de la migration, ce afin de proposer une perspective nuancée de la migration en tant que réalité incarnée. Ma recherche offre un aperçu des motivations personnelles et des processus décisionnels impliqués dans le mouvement transnational des migrants colombiens, reconnaissant, comme le suggère la littérature ethnographique, que les décisions des migrants transnationaux de vivre leur vie au-delà des frontières nationales ne sont jamais purement politiques ou économiques. En effet, les migrants se déplacent dans les limites imposées par les structures politiques, économiques, et sociales. Cependant, ces réalités sont équilibrées et contrebalancées dans la sphère de la vie domestique et affective, dans des intimités partagées en famille et d'autres facteurs qui dépassent la portée des politiques gouvernementales ou des fluctuations des marches du travail mondial. Ainsi, l'accent mis sur l’expérience vécue et sur la nature ambiguë et incertaine des émotions de la famille transnationale met en évidence des processus de migration transnationale en constante évolution. Mon analyse s'appuie sur une approche centrée sur l'expérience, et l'attention est principalement portée sur le corps, en tant que site de culture. Pour cette raison, la participation sensuelle et les expériences incarnées, comme manger et marcher, occupent une place privilégiée dans l'étude. Je fournis une description détaillée des expériences vécues et des émotions ressenties par les Colombiens qui ont émigré à Montréal. Ce faisant, je tente de donner une image plus complète de la migration telle qu'elle est vécue par ses principaux acteurs et de la migration colombienne en particulier.This thesis highlights the importance of the affective and relational aspects of migration for Montréal-based Colombian migrants as they care at a distance for their transnational families while remaking their homes and crafting life projects. In particular, the focus is on the lived and emotional dimensions of migration, which allows a nuanced perspective on migration as an embodied reality. My research offers insights into the personal motivations and decision-making processes involved in transnational movement, recognizing, as the ethnographic literature suggests, that transnational migrants’ decisions to live their lives across national frontiers are never purely political or economic. Indeed, migrants do move within the limits imposed by political, economic, and social structures. However, these realities are counterbalanced within the domestic and affective life sphere by shared intimacies and other factors that extend beyond the reach of government policies or fluctuations in global labour markets. Thus, the emphasis on lived experiences and on the ambiguous and uncertain nature of the emotions of the transnational family highlights ever-changing processes involved in transnational migration that are not always taken into account in the academic literature. My analysis draws on an experience-centred approach, and attention is given primarily to the body as a site of culture. Consequently, sensorial participation and embodied experiences, such as eating and walking are given a privileged place in the study. I provide a detailed description of the lived experiences and felt emotions of Colombians who have migrated to Montréal. In so doing, I attempt to give a more complete picture of migration as lived by its principal actors and of Colombian migration in particular.Esta tesis destaca la importancia que los lazos afectivos pueden llegar a tener para algunos migrantes colombianos radicados en Montréal, los cuales a la vez que mantienen lazos afectivos con sus familias transnacionales, rehacen sus hogares imaginan y planean un mejor futuro. El énfasis en la dimensión emocional y cotidiana de la migración nos ofrece una visión de la migración como realidad corporal. Mi investigación ahonda en las motivaciones personales y los procesos de toma de decisiones que intervienen en el movimiento transnacional, reconociendo, como sugiere la literatura etnográfica, que las decisiones tomadas por las migrantes transnacionales de vivir sus vidas a través de fronteras nacionales, nunca son puramente políticas o económicas. De hecho, los migrantes se mueven dentro de las estructuras políticas, económicas y sociales. Sin embargo, estas realidades se equilibran y contrarrestan en la esfera de la vida doméstica y afectiva, en las intimidades compartidas en familia y otros factores que se extienden más allá del alcance de las políticas gubernamentales o las fluctuaciones de los mercados laborales mundiales. Así pues, el énfasis en las experiencias vividas y en el carácter ambiguo e incierto de las emociones de la familia transnacional pone de relieve los procesos siempre cambiantes que conlleva la migración transnacional y que no siempre son tenidos en cuenta. Mi análisis se basa en un enfoque centrado en la experiencia, y se centra principalmente en el cuerpo como lugar de cultura. A su vez, la participación sensorial y las experiencias corporales, como comer y caminar, ocupan un lugar privilegiado en el estudio. Proporciono una descripción detallada de las experiencias vividas y las emociones sentidas por los colombianos que emigraron a Montréal. Con ello, trato de dar una imagen más completa de la migración tal como la vivieron sus principales actores y de la migración colombiana en particular

Remember, remember the 6th and 7th of November : Colombia 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice

In the morning of November 6th in 1985, during an impasse in negotiations with the government of President Belisario Betancur, M-19 guerrillas seized the Palace of Justice and held the entire Colombian Supreme Court hostage. The Army responded by destroying the building. More than a hundred people were killed, as well as eleven civilians- the cafeteria staff and some occasional visitors- who were made to disappear. What is puzzling is that these civilians were safely escorted outside the Palace of Justice, but perhaps because they were witnesses to what had gone on inside, they were made to disappear. The families of these people have struggled for over 25 years to find their loved ones. During a five month period in 2008 I studied the way in which some Colombians remembered or forgot this traumatic event that touched and changed their lives. It was through the use of methods such as interviews, focus groups, participant observation, walkabouts, visits to exhibitions related to forced disappearances and a course I took on "Violence, Memory and History" that I came to know their memories and stories and to understand their struggles for truth and justice. Furthermore, to guide my understanding I drew upon theories that highlighted the importance of memory in societies were social trauma occurred, societies in transition from repression to democracy. An extensive interdisciplinary study by Elizabeth Jelin, theories by Mario Amoros, Jorge Mendoza Garcia and Reyes Mata among others, guided this study. I was able to share in the continuous search process which is followed by the families of the disappeared. A search for truth and justice. However, and most importantly, the families struggle to develop ways to keep from forgetting, they share their stories with those who want to listen, and keep courageously trying to remember what cannot be forgotten