Migração, trabalho e gênero : compreensão das territorialidades da imigração feminina internacional recente em municípios do Vale do Taquari, RS/Brasil.

Abstract

This thesis aims to reflect on migration, work, gender, and more specifically on the territorialities regarding the recent international female immigration to cities of the Taquari Valley, in the center of the State of Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil, within the scope of Regional Development. This is an important region for the state due to its economic diversity, with its job market attracting immigrants. Based on this, this investigation focused on the realm of the international female immigrants in an attempt to answer the following research question: how do these women, participants of the formal work market, build their territorialities in the cities of this valley? The following specific objectives were proposed to assist in answering it: (i) identifying the mobility path of this women, by taking into consideration their origin country, their receiving country, and their arrival in the valley; (ii) identifying these women’s profile; (iii) based on their narratives, analyzing how the immigrant integration processes take place in the family and work scopes, and in the public spaces of the valley; (iv) investigating the women’s roles and the social protection mechanisms in the social and work relations established in the cities and in the receiving region. This study is justified by the relevance of contextualizing work and gender relations, based on the experience of these immigrant women. Regarding its methodology, it is a qualitative and bibliographic research intertwined with the relational approach of the contemporary economic sociology. As for the methodological procedures, data collection was carried out through a survey of secondary data to enable the selection of six cities – Lajeado, Encantado, Poço das Antas, Arroio do Meio, Estrela, and Teutônia. These display a higher concentration of international immigrants who arrived from 2010 onwards in the region and higher employment rates in the formal work market in 2018. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were done individually and in depth; field journal, and cartography were used as well. The nonprobability and convenience sampling selected seven women of four different nationalities to participate in the research. The outcomes indicated that the mobility of the immigrant women is motivated both by the need of finding income to supply them with better livelihood conditions and by their desire to fulfill their personal projects and dreams, thus supporting the fact that economic and social actions are interrelated, and should therefore be considered in the migration movements. In the job scope, these women occupy operational positions in industrial and service rendering companies, and they try to be suitable to what is offered to them. Even so, it may be concluded that not only does their work provide them with the opportunity to access material goods, but it also enhances their self-esteem, motivation, and hope. On the other hand, objections to ascending professionally could be their professional qualification and their experience, as well as their difficulty with the language; on top of all this, there is work and gender segregation and consequent vulnerability affecting the immigrants, mainly the women. Privately, these immigrant women are assisted by their husbands or grown-up children; however, they take care of their houses and do household and family chores more than the men, where inequality between the genders also prevail. Through these women’s reports, one may also notice that basic health and education public services are accessible, unlike higher education, whose payment they cannot afford, and whose scholarships are limited in number. With regards to enjoying public spaces, they usually use the squares and/or parks near their homes. Not owning a car is mentioned as a hindrance for the family to go around and visit sights, and enjoy different venues in the region. In this light, their churches promote their networking and a venue for meeting, a place valued and cherished by these immigrant women who, in the services, strengthen their friendship and cooperation bonds; these are also places for social inclusion. The conclusion shows that these international immigrant women play a central role in keeping their family together and in socially and economically developing the cities in the valley. Therefore, public work policies are needed to protect and promote formal jobs, as well as a regional effort to make these women more visible, women who, beside the Brazilian women, show their resilience and a great potential to learn, teach, produce, and transform, thus affecting their origin and receiving places.