Responding to violence from abroad: The Mexican diaspora mobilising from Brussels and Paris through art-based strategies

Over 150,000 people were intentionally killed in Mexico since 2006, after the Mexican government decided to openly combat organized crime. Against the backdrop of the security crisis, members of Mexican society have developed national and transnational strategies to contribute to the respond to the rampant violence in their homeland. By introducing a transdisciplinary approach and peacebuilding theories, this paper argues that Mexican migrants living in Brussels and Paris have been able to orchestrate transnational art-based strategies to contribute to the violence alleviation in their country of origin. In particular, this empirical paper argues that Mexican migrants living in these two European cities have deployed artistic bottom-up strategies to reduce direct violence, transform relationships and build capacity from overseas

Transnacionalismo político desde Bélgica: movimientos sociales organizados por activistas mexicanas

peer reviewedEste ensayo busca profundizar en el estudio del transnacionalismo político, con referencia a las implicaciones y en el rol que las mujeres tienen en la formación, estructura y diseminación de movimientos políticos y sociales extraterritoriales. A partir de datos empíricos, este ensayo presenta una tipología original que destaca el tipo de estrategias de movilización desplegadas por las migrantes mexicanas desde Bélgica. En conclusión, se establece que la movilización de las mujeres mexicanas desde el extranjero depende de su percepción de la inseguridad y del contexto nacional de su país de origen, así como de las oportunidades políticas disponibles que han encontrado en extranjero, las remesas políticas y los flujos de información que mantienen con la sociedad mexicana, así como de sus habilidades y capacidades de navegar entre dos contextos sociales, económicos y políticos

Migrantes haitianos y africanos en México: una oportunidad innovadora en materia de política migratoria

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Respuesta transnacional frente a catástrofes naturales: mexicanos reaccionando desde Bélgica como resultado de los terremotos

peer reviewedEl transnacionalismo es un fenómeno ampliamente estudiado entre los científicos sociales para definir los lazos que mantienen las comunidades migrantes entre su lugar de origen y su lugar de residencia. En este artículo se postula que, en tiempo de crisis, las comunidades migrantes explotan las redes transnacionales sociales, políticas y económicas que han construido y mantenido como resultado de su experiencia migratoria. Asimismo, se sugiere que el flujo de información e intercambios entre las comunidades migrantes y sus países de origen se intensifican en situaciones de emergencia. Este artículo presenta evidencia empírica recolectada con la comunidad migrante mexicana en Bélgica después de los devastadores terremotos que ocurrieron el 7 y 19 de septiembre del 2017 en México

In what ways do natural resources influence the dynamics of armed conflicts?

peer reviewedNatural resources have a determinant role in conflicts. Natural resources can in fact motivate the initiation, duration, or finalisation of a conflict. By analysing the most representative civil conflicts in African countries after the Cold War, this essay explores the role of resources in each phase of the conflict. The essay looks specifically at the role of natural resources in the initiation, escalation, deescalation and cessation of conflicts (Jeong, 2008). It is concluded that resources can: motivate and shape the type of conflict taking place, determine the duration and intensity of the conflict, influence the peace and reconstruction processes after the end of the conflict

¿Cómo enfrentar la crisis migratoria de haitianos y africanos en Baja California?

De acuerdo con cifras del Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), 3,700 migrantes originarios de Haití, Nigeria y El Congo, entre otros países africanos, residen en Baja California. La gran mayoría de estos migrantes han llegado al norte del país con el sueño de cruzar hacia Estados Unidos; sin embargo, debido a las políticas de inmigración represivas estadounidenses, dichos extranjeros se han visto obligados a permanecer en el territorio nacional indefinidamente. Frente a esta nueva crisis migratoria que sufre nuestro país, diversas organizaciones cristianas y de protección social han brindado ayuda humanitaria a los migrantes

The Role of Gender, Race, and Class in Transnational Political Movements: Mexican and Colombian Women Engaging in Homeland Politics from Europe’s Capital

Drug trafficking is a mounting security problem in Latin America, specifically for the primary producers of narcotics in the region: Mexico and Colombia. The security concern from both countries has triggered the political and social mobilization of Mexican and Colombian migrants from abroad many of them from the Global City of Brussels. This paper unpacks the motivations and dynamics behind transnational political activism organized by Mexican and Colombian women living in Brussels. By integrating and revising insights from social movements theories, political transnationalism from migration studies and intersectionality studies, this paper elaborates on the role of migrant women organizing and sustaining transnational political movements to change the political conditions of their countries of origin. The ethnographic evidence presented in this paper reveals the importance to recognize the individual level in the analysis of transnational movements. Women are cognitive actors with political ideals and emotions whose political activism is highly influenced by social categorizations such as gender, race, class, and generation

La mobilisation politique des femmes mexicaines à Paris

Les femmes mexicaines migrantes à Paris développent des projets dans lesquels elles expriment leur créativité et leurs revendications politiques. Des résultats empiriques portant sur trois types d’activités – la création d’initiatives artistiques, le développement de mouvements communautaires et de solidarité, et la création d’associations non gouvernementales – permettent de mieux comprendre leurs processus individuels de subjectivation à travers de telles mobilisations car ces femmes construisent une identité transnationale en se distanciant des normes et des organisations politiques largement dominées par les hommes, dans leur pays d’origine comme dans leur pays de résidence

Living as a quasi-citizen in Japan: the Brazilian Nikkeijin diaspora

Circular migration has been portrayed as the ultimate solution for migration governance. In fact, policy makers and academics consider circular migration and other temporary forms of migration as a way to obtain mutual gains for sending countries, receiving countries and migrants (Vertovec, 2007). Circular migration encompasses different type of processes such as temporary migration programs, return migration, limited term contracts and temporary visas (Yamashiro: 2013, Oda 2010a). In order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of circular migration, it is necessary to unpack each of these programs. The assumption that temporary migration is beneficial for emigration countries, immigration countries and migrants needs to be analysed more critically, since these programs have a transformative effect both in sending and receiving societies. For instance, in some cases temporary migration can disrupt the basis and components of citizenship, identity or ethnicity. One of the most representative cases to illustrate the disruptive effect of temporary programs in the social and political order is the case of Japanese-Brazilian migrants retuning to Japan (Hokara, 2002). Since 1990, the Japanese government approved a law that enables foreign nationals of Japanese ancestry to enter Japan as temporary workers. Several scholars have described this phenomenon as a “temporary status program”, “long term resident program” (Oda, 2010), “return migration program” (Touro, 2001) and “limited-term contracts” (Terasawa, 2000). One of the main contributions in the study of these Brazilian Nikkeijin (descendants of Japanese emigrants) is their conceptualization as secondary citizens (Yamanaka, 2003). According to Joppke (2007), citizenship has three different aspects: status, rights and identity. Using this framework, this essay argues that the Control and Refugee Recognition Act enabling Brazilian immigrants to return temporally to Japan has created a new status of quasi-citizenship. Analysing the circular migration of this population from this perspective enable us to understand the role of the Japanese government on shaping restrictive immigration laws and the living condition of the Nikkeijin. On the one hand, the first part of the essay argues that Nikkeijin migration is an instrument of social closure. The first part uses Joppke’s (2007) framework to demonstrate that Japanese-Brazilians are quasi-citizens in Japan with a legal status, economic rights and a common identity. On the other hand, the second part argues that there are three main obstacles that prevent this migrant community to be fully admitted as citizens. These three factors are the following: the state modelling and concerns role, the lack of accommodation of diversity in the Japanese society and finally the formation of a transnational community