Peruvians Dispersed

Paerregaard (anthropology, U. of Copenhagen) presents an ethnographic study of Peruvians who have emigrated to the U.S., Spain, Japan, and Argentina, based on ten months of field work conducted between 1997 and 2000. Coverage includes an historical overview of Peruvian migration; immigration policies in the First World and how they affect Peruvian emigration; the role of migrant networks in Peruvian emigration; the events, processes, and institutions that stimulate Peruvians' engagement in transnational practices and that prompt their awareness that they constitute a separate population; the institutions and processions organized by Peruvian migrants to celebrate national and religious icons, and associated internal conflicts arising between migrants; migrant notions of belonging and their life courses; "illegality" and how illegal traveling affects the lives of individual migrants; and future options for Peruvians engaging in transnational activities. Academic but accessible to the general reader. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Karsten Paerregaard is a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Copenhagen.