Developing Informality and Alternative Practices in the Peruvian Community of Paterson, New Jersey
No. 43 (2021-04-01)Author(s)
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Gianncarlo MuschiThe National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS), Estados Unidos
Abstract
This article examines the practices adopted by Peruvian migrants to form their own organizations in Paterson, New Jersey, United States. To recover the communal experience of these migrants, we employed a qualitative methodology that included the analysis of written sources obtained from the archives of the Peruvian consulate in New Jersey and libraries in the area. We also reviewed oral histories of Peruvian migrants and information gathered through journalistic material provided by members of the community. The first section of the article reveals that Peruvian migrants, lacking previously established institutions and local government assistance, used informality and other alternative practices of social organization to create their own associations. These migrants also made use of national identity, social networks and Andean norms of collective assistance to organize themselves into their new context. The second section shows that Peruvian businessmen played a central role in bringing these collective organizing initiatives to fruition and formalizing them. These traders financed and led several collective organization initiatives. Finally, we find that many merchants and community leaders used clientelism to acquire economic and political power, which has helped them to continue forming associations and organizing public events to make the community more prominent. We conclude that, in the different waves of migration, Peruvians have shown a predisposition to use informality as a resource to organize themselves collectively in the receiving country. This article contributes to studies concerning Latino communities in the United States by offering an analytical perspective on the socioeconomic dynamics that more recent migrant groups transfer from their country of origin in order to adapt to the new context.
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