Mobility of bolivian families in villa 20 (Caba, Argentina): Problematizing the notion of plurilocality

Abstract

The slums in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA, in Spanish), set up in the 1930’s within the context of the import substitution model’s implementation, follow the classic prototype of informal precarious living in Argentina. Villa 20, or Slum 20, is in the south of the city and has a migrant population from neighboring countries. According to the CABA Housing Institute Census (2016), the main heads of household born in Bolivia outnumber locals or those from other neighboring countries (Paraguay and Peru). The goal is this work is to analyze the links with their places of origin and with the socioeconomic and sociodemographic aspect of Bolivian migrant homes in the context of the current local re-urbanization policy (2015-2019). In this way, the proposal is to make an initial analysis of the possibility of plurilocal practices from a transnational perspective, questioning the classic and demographic definition of migration. An essentially quantitative methodological strategy, which forms part of a larger research project, was used to carry out this work, incorporating both primary and secondary data sources. A survey was applied with a strategic (non-probabilistic) sampling to 60 homes of Bolivian migrants, where the case selection is theoretical in nature. This work constitutes a first approach and is considered as the first step for the development of a later qualitative approach.