From Chiloé to Ushuaia. Chilean male migration between 1947 and 1970

Abstract

Immigrants from Europe, Latin America, and even migrants from other parts of Argentina turned a small town into the today big city of Ushuaia. This paper examines the regional economic characteristics as well as the circuits and stable transnational migration flows migrants sustained over time. The focus is on the Chilean migrants, who were the largest local population for many years and who arrived in Ushuaia between 1947 and 1970. Migration networks, migrant trajectories, and job opportunities are interpreted throughout interviews. In this period, migration networks together with State development policies based on job offer were the causes of the growth of Ushuaia.