Paper short abstract:

The paper addresses the reasons for migration and also the sense of belonging that the members of the Latin American Community in Edinburgh have whilst feeling ‘rootless’. It looks at the construction of concurrent national and Latin American identities, transnational links and “home-making” processes.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, based on my recent fieldwork in Edinburgh among the Latin American community, I explore the reasons for migration of the members of the Latin American community in Edinburgh as well as look at the dynamics of concurrent identities, i.e. the maintenance and reconstruction of national identity as well as the emergence of the Latin American identity, thus the construction of their collective system of representation by shaping categories of identity relating to collective history, language, music, food and traditions. I argue that belonging to the Latin American community helps counter the feeling of being 'rootless'. What is more migrants' frequent movement and the fact that Edinburgh is for many a second or a third destination, make individuals' transnational links to various places one lived in during one's life trajectory 'invisible roots'. Not knowing whether one would stay in a particular place for a long time and a constantly changing world makes the 'home-making' processes of the members of the Latin American community in Edinburgh shift more to an imaginary and flexible level as well as being tied more to the closest family than to a particular place.