Ángeles Escrivá

Migration, Gender, and Politics The 2006 Peruvian Elections Abroad

Emigrant support for 2006 Peruvian presidential candidate Lourdes Flores (the choice of the conservative Unidad Nacional coalition) was enough to win her the first electoral round abroad, but this tendency was not reflected in Peru. Data gathered during a 2006 study in Spain highlight the importance of gender and ideological reasons for understanding the electoral behavior of Peruvian migrants. Peruvian emigrant communities have the potential to play a crucial role in Peruvian politics not only in electoral choices but also in the form of political “remittances” flowing through these increasingly influential transnational social spaces.

Asset accumulation and transfer for old age: a study on Peruvian and Moroccan migration to Spain

Population ageing constitutes a major determinant of contemporary international migration, acting both as a push and pull factor in countries of origin and reception. From a micro-perspective, longevity, economic instability and migration are also affecting personal life as well as family organisation and solidarity. The aim of this paper is to focus on the strategies, in individual and family spheres, that migrants and their loved ones develop to accumulate and transfer assets, in order to respond to the demands of the elderly and counteract the uncertainties of advancing age. To capture this reality we conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with Peruvian and Moroccan migrants in Spain, and with returnees and relatives in the two countries of origin between 2006 and 2010. Both cases demonstrate that country contexts, together with personal experiences and family relationships, determine where to stay, and with whom or with what to support oneself as one grows older. More recently, the economic crisis in Spain that is negatively influencing social and migration policies, reducing migrants’ economic gains, and placing new burdens on people’s shoulders, is affecting these asset accumulation and transfer activities for old age.