With Yerba Mate: Ethnicity and Economic Rationality Among Paraguayan Rural Workers in the Buenos Aires Construction Industry

This article analyzes the process by which rural workers migrate from Paraguay to work in the Argentinian construction industry. There is some evidence that the migration process changes not only the lives of migrants but, in a profound way, their economic rationality. Employing an ethnographic perspective we contrast the work experiences of Paraguayan migrants at origin and at their point of arrival. The article casts light on the profound overlap between ethnicity, work and economic rationality.