Paths of Work Peruvian Immigrants in Santiago - The origin of emergency and the persistence of "other place"

Abstract

This article presents research on upward career paths of Peruvian immigrants in Chile and problematizes the conditions in which they enter the labor market. Although they are in career paths that appear to be successful, these men and women live without many choices and later incorporate this problem into their "habitus." Viewing their apparent economic conformity from a sociological perspective, we show that Peruvian citizens, despite their efforts, remain in a separate and devalued "place apart," with legal, historical, political, and cultural ramifications that allow them only partial insertion into Chilean society. The main obstacle they face is the daily racism that affects their lives, their labor relations, and their social position. This place apart is a vulnerable state in which their existence is organized around a search for acceptance that is never achieved.