Transbordering trade from below migrant creativity in the Chilean north

Abstract

Border studies in Chile have examined the movement of people and objects through national borders mainly from a state centered approach. Mostly based on movement across the Chilean-Peruvian-Bolivian borders, these studies place emphasis on the importance of state control (Tapia and Gonzalez 2014), the production of otherness based on national origin (Guizardi et al. 2017) or the construction of circulation routes that connect both sides of the border (Garcés H, Moraga R, and Maureira C 2016). A more recent conception of borders sees them as dynamic, constantly shifting and changing. This involves understanding the way they are currently being constructed and the implications of living, crossing and experiencing borders (Jirón 2018). This involves observing the experience of individuals and their mobility practices across borders. These mobilities involve more than the simple change of place or the connection between two points. Mobility is a set of practices that produce spatialities (Urry 2007) and special attention is given to what happens in and through mobility, including experiences, meanings and affects, and particularly the way these practices are embodied in/through mobility (Jirón, Imilán, and Iturra 2016).