Paper short abstract:

The paper looks at complexities and contradictions in Latin American women’s migration experiences, focusing on their agentic efforts and how in the context of displacement and a flexible world they struggle with the messiness of being themselves and the sense-making to narrate themselves.

Paper long abstract:

Transnational mobility is a central feature of globalization, where the interplay between migration and identity is central to understand the shifts and transformations experienced by individuals. However, the gendering of migration needs to be problematised further. It has long been argued that female migration is primarily associated with economic needs and family roles; however, other intersecting dimensions of women's social backgrounds provide a more comprehensive picture of their reasons for, and experiences of migration. The paper explores the complexities associated with the agentic efforts of Latin American women in their migration trajectories. Findings suggest that family and societal regimes are the main push factors, and motives for extending their stay abroad seem to be associated with a desire for a cosmopolitan lifestyle, developed once in the host country. Deployment of identities is characterized by complex dynamics: whilst women might live cosmopolitan lives in rhetorical and representational terms, they are isolated from their home environment and struggle to adapt to and navigate hurdles in the host environment. At the same time, there are identifiable processes of reconfiguration of the self whereby through emotional and material acculturation, women normalize their experiences in the host country. The paper unpacks the contradictions that emerge from Latin American women's agentic efforts and explores the reasons for female migration focusing on how, in the context of displacement and the "flexible world", women struggle with the messiness of being themselves and the sense-making to narrate themselves.