Latin American Migration to the Asia Pacific: Transpacific Connections in the Twenty-First Century

Guest Editorial Introduction

This Special Issue delves into the increasing number of Latin American migrants currently residing in the Asia-Pacific region, providing the first scholarly exploration of their collective experiences. Whereas previous scholarship tended to focus on individual states, bilateral relations, and the patterns of migration associated with them, we aim to highlight new and emergent relationships across the Pacific Ocean that transcend the boundaries from the state to the region. In so doing, we seek to acknowledge the substantial changes in migration patterns that have occurred in recent years, alongside a shift in focus from political identity to questions of wellbeing and connectedness to place.

Given the increasing scale and complexity of Latin American migration to the Asia Pacific, the studies presented in this collection are particularly timely. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports that between 2000 and 2020, the number of migrants from Latin America (including the Caribbean) residing outside their country of origin increased by 74 per cent (UNDESA 2020). In 2020, approximately 550,000 Latin American migrants were living in Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Oceania, in what is commonly referred to as the Asia-Pacific region. Although this figure is relatively low compared to Latin Americans residing in other regions such as Europe and North America, it is still a significant number that has been increasing at noteworthy rates.

Such numerical presence is only one way in which to determine the significance of Latin American migration in the twenty first century, and what the contemporary migration from Latin America to the Asia Pacific represents. Latin American diaspora scholarship consists predominantly of studies that explore movements to the United States of America and Western Europe, emphasising South-North migration patterns and a sense of dependence, domination and marginalisation (Overmyer-Velázquez and Sepúlveda 2015). Shifting the gaze towards the Latin American diaspora beyond the traditional regions in the Global North, therefore, provides novel perspectives on the diversity of Latin America and what it means to be a Latin American migrant. As proposed by Overmyer-Velázquez (2019), the growing globalisation of the Latin American diaspora has an impact on the diasporic identities, one that Latin American Studies is yet to capture. This argument resonates with this collection. As the articles in this Special Issue demonstrate, new expressions of culture, creations of community and attachments to place are articulated when the Latin American diaspora is analysed from the Asia-Pacific perspective.

This collection also provides novel perspectives to the existing literature on Latin American migration to the Asia-Pacific region, expanding its geographical scope and demonstrating how avenues for future research and inquiry continue to emerge within the field. Most of the existing literature on the Latin American migration to the Asia Pacific is made of studies on returning Asian descendants, with a strong focus on connectedness between Japan, Brazil and Peru (e.g. Takenaka 1999, Tsuda 1999, 2000). Research into this form of nikkeijin return migration spanned over three decades, and new works in this area continue to emerge, often looking at how religious, gender, or LGBTIQ+ identities are expressed (Quero and Dias 2021). We decided not to engage with this relatively consolidated literature in this Special Issue. Instead, we explore Latin Americans in relatively understudied destinations, such as China, New Zealand, and the Philippines, for example.

At the same time, the focus of this Special Issue on contemporary migration also exposes the changes that occurred in the socio-political context of Latin America in the past decades. An existing body of literature on Latin American migration to the Asia Pacific, mainly to Australia, focused on those who migrated fleeing oppressive dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s (e.g. Cohen 2004, Mason 2014). As a consequence, Latin American migrants are often depicted as political and economic refugees, who migrated in the context of forced displacement and exile. Such studies, while valuable, no longer reflect the nuance of Latin American migration in the Asia-Pacific region. Both Latin America and the Asia Pacific have become leading global economies and political protagonists in the past decade. New intergovernmental initiatives, such as the Pacific Alliance, have formalised the relationship between some of Latin America's leading economies and nations across the Pacific. Contemporary migration from Latin America to the Asia Pacific is occurring in a context of increasing economic complexity and growth, connected to areas such as international education, extractive resources, and technology. As we reflect upon this Special Issue, these economic transformations are reflected in the current profile of Latin American migrants in the Asia-Pacific, as well as in the migration networks that enable their mobilities.

This collection originally had its focus on the ‘new wave’ of Latin American migration to Australia, a theme that has gained recent attention from literature and scholarly approaches in Australia (Rocha and Coronado 2014, Kath 2022). The term ‘new wave’ has been used to distinguish the most recent migration from previous periods of intensified mobility from Latin America to Australia. After a long historical period of low-level Latin American migration to Australia from the late nineteenth century to the 1930s, the first sustained period of migration occurred from the 1970s to 1980s, as largely political refugees fled countries in Central and South America (Urribarri et al. 2016). There are disagreements as to when the second wave of Latin American migration to Australia emerged (and whether it can be considered a second wave). However, it is clear that the profile of migration from Latin America to Australia changed from the 2000s, and the ‘new wave’ consisted mostly of young, well-educated and qualified professionals who migrated as international students or skilled migrants (Kath and Del Río 2022).

In the process of crafting this collection, we realised that the phenomenon witnessed in Australia could only be properly understood if we expanded the scope of analysis to capture broader movements that were happening between Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. We then decided to broaden the scope of this volume to make this Special Issue a forum for scholars to dialogue and discuss what it means to be a Latin American ‘on the other side of the Pacific’, particularly in Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia and Oceania.

Contributions

The Special Issue contains contributions from a range of scholars, across both sides of the Pacific and from Asian, Latin American and Australian universities. The majority of contributors are from Australian universities, however. We recognise the limitations of this profile of authors, linked to the original scope of this Special Issue, but also suggest that it reflects the state of the field in contemporary scholarship. New and exciting work is being undertaken by scholars of migration across the Asia-Pacific region, many of whom work in languages other than English. Research into Latin American migration in Australia, however, has now been ongoing for more than three decades.

While small in scale compared to the USA, a considerable amount of studies now exists alongside a body of active academic researchers across the university, government, and community sectors. There are a number of associations and communities and research centres that have been working on building this body of literature. The Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia, for example, has been catalysing research for over three decades. Such a body of scholarship provides a useful point of departure with which to engage with new trajectories in the Asia Pacific. We hope this Special Issue catalyses conversations across borders and spurs new interest in migration from Latin America to the Asia Pacific region.

A number of themes emerge from this Special Issue, drawing across the articles in ways that were not wholly expected at the project's start. The matter of connectedness to place is central to all of the contributions, and is frequently considered as an aspect of active place-making by migrants. Active and deliberate strategies to form community, resist marginalisation, and connect across vast distances are repeatedly explored. Similarly, questions of wellbeing are considered from multiple perspectives, ranging from isolation during the pandemic to a broader sense of marginalisation that speaks to structures of disadvantage and prejudice. Central to the discussions, however, is how migrants actively resist and contest these structures, as they pursue wellbeing across a number of social domains. Finally, alongside place and wellbeing, we consider new expressions of identity as Latin Americans in the Asia Pacific. New profiles of migrants, frequently coming from middle-class backgrounds, challenge assumptions and stereotypes regarding Latin Americans in the USA and Western Europe. No longer simply an anomaly to be considered in comparison to larger migrant cohorts in the USA or Europe, Latin Americans in the Asia Pacific have distinctive senses of self, place, and their wellbeing within these spaces.

The movement of Latin Americans to the Asia Pacific was transformed by the recent pandemic, as was the ability of migrants to move within their new countries. This was particularly acute in Australia, where cities such as Melbourne experienced the longest lockdowns in the world and international borders remained closed for almost two years. We choose this moment as the point of departure for our Special Issue. Peñaloza and Gallego's article introduces a number of themes that continue throughout the collection, considering the health and wellbeing of Latin American migrants at a time of intense vulnerability. As the authors reflect, such vulnerabilities were particularly severe for recent Latin American arrivals to Australia, many of whom were international students with limited social networks and savings to support them during lockdowns. In Australia's largest city of Sydney, many experienced deep social and material distress. Peñaloza and Gallego use in-depth interviews with migrants across Sydney to consider the active strategies they took to resist a sense of deliberate marginalisation by authorities, and to recreate a sense of connectedness and purpose.

The isolation experienced during the pandemic is further explored in Vazquez Maggio and Mejía's article on communication and connectedness for Mexican migrants in Australia. In this article, the authors consider the evolution of communicative practices over a ten-year period, exploring the use of platforms by middle-class Mexican migrants in Australia. Importantly, they explore not solely the tangible sense of loneliness caused by the distance between the two countries, but also the emotional labour of reconnecting across distance. Digital technologies are increasingly woven into the fabric of transnational familial ties. As reflected by the authors, these do not resolve the sense of isolation and the lack of close intergenerational support. Nor can they overcome the anxiety and stress caused by an inability to support those who are unwell. They do transform many aspects of this sense of isolation though, frequently enabling a continuation of already strong familial relations.

The matter of migrants’ wellbeing extends beyond the confines of any one country, and Armony et al.'s article looks for points of commonality and divergence for Latin American migrants’ wellbeing across Canada and Australia. Building on a large international project across a dozen countries, and hundreds of survey responses, the authors consider how wellbeing is experienced in the two nominally multicultural countries. The article analyses how wellbeing is experienced significantly differently according to sex and work, but also by a sense of attachment to place and community. The data was collected prior to the pandemic, but provide important referent points for assumptions about connection to place that continue to evolve. In so doing, the article demonstrates the important intersections of work, sex and place in understanding transnational mobility, wellbeing, and Latin American identity across the Pacific.

Extending our consideration of Australian comparative case studies, Casado and Azeredo consider the emotional connectedness of partnered migrants in Australia and New Zealand. Drawing on 50 interviews across the two countries, they explore the stories of three Brazilian couples who live in Perth, the Gold Coast and Auckland. Although Brazilians are among the fastest-growing demographic to enter Australia and New Zealand from Latin America, there is very limited scholarship on their experiences. Casado and Azeredo demonstrate not only the active strategies that migrants use across the multistage processes of multiple visas, but also the important role of being in a couple for decision-making. More than that, the experience of multi-stage migration adds another layer of complexity to migrants’ relationships, who need to strategise and navigate complex migration policies and systems. The differences between New Zealand and Australia in this regard, once again emphasise the importance of situatedness in migrants’ sense of self and place.

The final two articles consider the experiences of migrants elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, exploring how themes raised in the first four articles are catalysed in China and the Philippines. Neither country has been the topic of extended analysis on Latin American presence previously, with scholarship instead tending to focus on Japan and South Korea. Azeredo's article considers questions of connectivity, place and identity, but through ethnographic analysis of an unexpectedly vibrant Brazilian community in Dongguan, China. Defining this community as peripheral, narrow, and contingent, Azeredo explores how theoretical literature on migration has not fully captured the experiences of international migration across analogous industrial clusters. Intersecting with both Vazquez Maggio and Mejía's article and with Armony et al.'s piece, Azeredo demonstrates the fluidity of Latin American identities and their expression in East Asia.

In the final article in the collection, Mason and Amparo Santiago consider how connectedness to Latin America is being progressively reconceptualised. Unusually, they do so in one of the sites historically deemed to have been most connected to trans-Pacific mobility, Manila. They interrogate the meaning of connectedness to Latin America in the Philippines, emphasising questions of shared coloniality, South-South connections, and its contemporary relevance in Metro Manila. The article unusually draws on evolving practices in museums, asking how public histories are shifting and changing in the third decade of the twenty-first century. They explore how the public is increasingly embracing connectedness to Latin America in its public discourse, reimagining connections and relationships that had hitherto been silenced.

Concluding Remarks

This Special Issue seeks to interrogate the contours of what makes Latin Americans in the Asia Pacific in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Still anchored in Australia, one of the most rapidly rising destinations for Latin Americans, this collection is nonetheless geographically and conceptually diverse. The existing scholarship on Latin American migrants in the Asia Pacific has a somewhat narrow geographical scope, having predominantly focused on return nikkeijin migration phenomena and on Latin Americans who migrated to Australia in the 1970s and 1980s as political and economic refugees. The goal of this Special Issue is to expand this existing literature in both its geographical and temporal boundaries.

The articles included in this collection explore the Latin American diaspora in non-traditional and unexplored regions, such as China, New Zealand and the Philippines. At the same time, the articles that provide insights into Latin American diasporas where research is more consolidated, such as in Australia, do so from a perspective that takes into account the contemporary profile of migrants and the changes that occurred in Latin America in the past decades. Contemporary Latin-American migrants were raised amid the establishment of vibrant democracies, significant economic growth and reduction of poverty in the 1990s and 2000s (ECLAC 2004, Lustig et al. 2012). Perspectives of Latin America are changing rapidly, and this collection must therefore be understood within the socioeconomic changes that have occurred in Latin America during the past decades.

This Special Issue, therefore, deals with emerging themes and aims to serve as a basis for future research on the Latin American diaspora in the Asia Pacific, and other ‘non-traditional’ regions worldwide. Ultimately, this Special Issue aims to contribute to the broader Latin American diaspora scholarship, historically centred in destinations such as North America and Western Europe. The central argument, which will be gradually revealed and explored throughout the articles, is that expanding the scope of the Latin American diaspora research to ‘non-traditional’ destinations, such as the Asia-Pacific, provides insights that resignify what it means to be a Latin American overseas.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the managing editors of the Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vince Marotta and Paula Muraca, for recognising the relevance of this Special Issue and for their support throughout the production of this volume. We would also like to thank the referees for their time, comments and suggestions. Finally, thank you to the authors for their amazing work, patience and resilience in writing and revising their articles during what came to be over two years of intense work. Our sincere gratitude.