Social capital in community, family, and work lives of Brazilian migrant parents in Ireland

Abstract

The paper examines a recent phenomenon of Brazilian migration to Ireland using social capital as a framework of analysis. The analysis specifically makes use of Portes and Sensenbrenner's typology of social capital sources (1993; Portes, 1998): bounded solidarity, value introjection, reciprocity, and enforceable trust. The paper examines the processes and dynamics inhering within these sources of social capital to account for the differential experiences of family, work, and community life in Ireland. The absence or presence of social capital sources, it is argued, is important in the experience of settlement and adaptation, especially in exacerbating or countering the disadvantages facing migrants. The evidence used is based on recent research from qualitative interviews with Brazilian parents in a small town in the west of Ireland, and residing in Ireland for several years.

Esta ponencia examina un fenómeno reciente de la inmigración brasileña a Irlanda usando el capital social como marco de análisis. El análisis utiliza específicamente la tipología de las fuentes de capital social de Portes y Sensenbrenner (1993; Portes, 1998): ligadas a la solidaridad, la incorporación de valores, la reciprocidad y la confianza que se puede cumplir. La ponencia examina los procesos y dinámicas inherentes en estas fuentes de capital social para explicar las diferentes experiencias de vida comunitaria, laboral y familiar en Irlanda. Se argumenta que la ausencia o presencia de fuentes de capital social es importante en la experiencia del asentamiento y la adaptación, especialmente al empeorar o contrarrestar las desventajas que afrontan los inmigrantes. La ponencia se inspira en investigaciones recientes sobre entrevistas cualitativas con padres brasileños de un pueblo del oeste de Irlanda que llevan residiendo en este país varios años.

Keywords:

• social capital
• Brazilian migrants
• solidarity
• reciprocity
• trust
• support

Palabras claves:

• capital social
• inmigrantes brasileños
• solidaridad
• reciprocidad
• confianza
• apoyo

Notes

1. Since an overall decline in the Irish economy in 2008, there has been a significant decline in the number of Brazilian migrants in the town, although there continues to be a sizeable number still in residence.

2. Vila Fabril is a suburban part of the city of Anápolis (pop. over 330,000 persons) in the state of Goiás, central Brazil.

3. Recruitment was specific to Vila Fabril through established contacts. Workers in the meat processing sector in Brazil were attracted by the significantly higher wages in Ireland than in Brazil.

4. There has been a notable rise in emigration from Brazil since the 1980s, for economic reasons, and most notably to North America where there has been a particular concentration in the cities of New York, Boston, Miami, San Francisco, and Toronto, among others (Goza, 2006(; Margolis, 1994, 1995); and more recently to Europe, mainly Portugal (Padilla, 2006).

5. For an overview of the key debates and criticisms see especially Blokland and Savage (2008), Field (2008) and Leonard (2005).

6. The figure includes one adult who was single and with no children. A further set of short interviews were undertaken with 21 children/young people and six lengthier interviews with local Brazilian and non-Brazilian activist members of the community (teachers and church leaders). In addition, two focus groups with teenagers were conducted at a local school. The data from these sources are not directly used in the current analysis, with the exception of one interview with a key informant.

7. See Becker and Bryman (2004) for a useful discussion of qualitative analysis in social policy and suggested further readings.

8. In presenting excerpts from interviews, I use the following convention: the gender of speaker in the quote, the couple identifier, and length of time of the longest residing partner in Ireland.

9. These studies typically focus on communities of place where length of residence, family history, occupation are key factors in how ‘established’ and ‘outsider’ groups are defined. The present study did not set out to investigate this particular phenomenon and therefore more evidence is required regarding its full complexity.

10. For a critique of this notion, see Blokland and Noordhoff (2008).

11. This aspect is the subject of further analysis and beyond the full scope of the current paper.