Migration and urban informality. Contemporary dynamics of exclusion and inclusion in Buenos Aires

Abstract

This paper pursues to analyze present articulations between migration and urban
informality in the City of Buenos Aires (2001-2014), amid rising social conflicts that have brought these issues back to the political and mass media agendas in Argentina. This research presents the findings of a case study conducted at Playon de Chacarita, a slum located in Buenos Aires and mostly inhabited by immigrants, especially from Peru. The history and evolving dynamics of this space, as well as its relationship with the processes examined in this paper are reconstructed from the stories of its residents and other social actors, in dialogue with specialized literature. Studying this social and spatial configuration contributes to understanding how two historically linked exclusion processes Í€“one based on social class and another based on ethnical and national originÍ€“ combine and actualize in the present. The paper also seeks to foster reflections on the strategies developed by the groups that suffer these inequalities to blur these borders: to build alternative forms of inclusion.