Department of Methodology Seminar Series

Overseas Chinese Engagement in Brazil and Paraguay: Migrants’ Associations, Diaspora Agencies, and Extraterritorial Policies

Migrants’ associations–like hometown associations, kin groups, cultural clubs, mutual assistance societies, and local chapters of international diaspora associations–bridge China’s diaspora policies with Chinese migrants in Brazil and Paraguay. By supporting local businesses, organizing the community’s internal affairs, and participating in official politics, those associations articulate state-diaspora relations, promote international trade, and develop an entrepreneurial ethos among migrant vendors.

However, as a unique kind of local and transnational civil society actor, the associations have played an ambivalent role. On one hand, they unlocked opportunities for migrants to work in the informal economy by assisting new businesses to grow, providing legal counseling, and representing vendors’ interests in public and official affairs. On the other hand, they rigidly organized the community’s affairs and exercised tight control over vendors, limiting migrants’ options for jobs, trapping them in a cycle of debt, and hindering their ability to find housing arrangements or maintain their immigration status.

By implementing locally the diaspora policy set in China, the associations enabled migrants to access income-generating activities while, at the same time, facilitating the accumulation of capital in South America’s largest informal economy.

Host or Publisher Department of Methodology, LSE