Migrant young people in Catalonia
Carles Feixa
Universitat de Lleida
feixa@geosoc.udl.cat
INTRODUCTION
• (Transnational)
Migrant
• (Nomadic)
Youth
• (Hybrid)
Identities
• (Post-Political)
Agency
Ghosts
• Ghosts:
latino gangs
• Presences:
migrant youth
• Spectrum:
adult fears
Summary
1. Theoretical background: “transnational gangs”.
2. Methology used in three different phases of the research
project.
3. Stage 1: biographic narratives of the immigrant adolescents.
4. Stage 2: cultural identities of the latin kings and queens.
5. Stage 3, the gang agency through social projects.
6. Conclusion: we compare the three research experiences, on
the basis of the different biographical and social transitions
experienced by the subjects, reflecting on gangs in times of
crisis.
1. BACKGROUND
• Generations of Youth
– The generational relay (1920s) Ortega
– The generational gap (1960s) Feuer
– The generational lap (2000s) Tapscott
• Generations of Migrants
– Generation 2 (Thomas & Znaniecki 1927, Portes
1996)
– Generation 1,5 (Rumbaut 2004; Feixa 2006)
– Global Generations (Beck & Beck 2006)
The Latin American
Community in Barcelona
•
•
•
•
Transnational families
Reagrupation processes
Generation 1,5
Ethnogenesis and
Stygma
Evolution of Foreigner Population in
Barcelona
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
1996
2001
Europa
2002
Asia
2003
2004
África
América
2005
Oceania
2006
Moral panics: media
• Mass media and “moral
panics”
• From red cronicle to
research journalism
• Traditional Journals
• Free Journals
• TV
Subcultural traditions
• North American model:
gangs
• Latin American model:
pandillas
• European model:
urban tribes
• Virtual model:
nations
2. METHODOLOGY
• Transnational
Ethnography
• Extended Case Method
• Multisited fieldwork
• Life stories
• Participant observation
• Applied Research
Phase I. Jovlat (2005)
• JOVLAT. (2005-08).
• ¿Reyes y reinas latinos?
Identidades culturales de los
jóvenes de origen
latinoamericano en España.
• Ministerio de Educación y
Ciencia. Plan Nacional I+D+I,
Programa Nacional de
Ciencias Sociales,
Económicas y Jurídicas (SEJ).
[SEJ2005-09333-C0202/SOCI].
Phase II. Tresegy (2006-08)
• TRESEGY. (2006-08).
• Toward a social construction
of an European youth-ness:
experience of inclusion and
exclusion in the public
sphere among second
generation migrated
teenagers.
• European Union. FP6 [FP62004-CITIZENS-5.029105].
Phase IIIa. Eumargins (2008-10)
• EUMARGINS. (2008-11).
• On the Margins of the
European Community.
Young adult immigrants in
seven European countries.
• European Union. FP7 [FP7SSH-2007-1.217524].
• http://www.sv.uio.no/iss/en
glish/research/projects/eu
margins/.
Phase IIIb. Yougang (2011-13)
• YOUGANG. (2011-13).
• Gangs policies: youth
and migration in local
contexts.
• European Union. Marie
Curie FP7-PEOPLE [PIEFGA-2010-272200].
• http://www.yougangpro
ject.com/.
3. MIGRANT YOUTH BIOGRAPHIES
Beyond: Origins
• The best years of my life! (Lucia, Dominican Republic,
15)
• Over there it was different, different in every way.
(Toño, Peru, 17)
• En mí país si tú te vas a fuera, encuentras bananas,
plátanos, bananas verde, los puedes coger y te los
llevas a casa y no te cobran nada ni nadie, son de
todos. (Ismael, Ecuador, 15)
Here from There: Destinations
• I imagined the magnificent Barcelona. (Vanessa,
Ecuador, 13)
• I stayed with my God and my grandparents. (Ismael,
Ecuador, 15)
• Cuando se fue mi padre me empezaron a salir
canas… (Brenik, Ecuador, 16)
From There to Here: Transits
• You feel a great sadness. (Christian, Ecuador, 16)
• As the trip approached I did not want to come here
any more. (Nanda, Ecuador, 19)
• Bueno yo no decidí. Cómo veía a mi madre, a mi abuela,
a mi hermano, yo decidí venir, porque yo me había
acostumbrado más con ellos. Ya dije, mejor me voy p’allá.
(Toño, Perú, 17)
Here: Welcome
• I thought everything was nice, I came here very
excited and then you get here... (La Cruz, Ecuador,
17)
• Everything you left behind changes. (Carolina,
Bolivia, 16)
• A la semana me metieron al colegio”.
(Toño, Perú, 17)
• (El barrio) me pareció un poco aburrido. Porqué todo el
mundo estaba dentro, dentro de sus casa y en las calles
no había nadie. Cuando llegué, lloré mucho…
(Melani, Ecuador, 16)
There from Here: Settlements
• All young people have a purpose, they have a dream.
(Gisela, Bolivia, 20)
• I would give anything to be in my country. (Yankee,
Ecuador, 16)
• Aquí es muy difícil conseguir en realidad amigos,
porque en Colombia yo tenía los amigos de toda la
vida y es mucho más fácil relacionarse con ellos. Aquí
ya vienes a cambiar de vida, a trabajar.
(David, Colombia, 22)
Between Here and There:
Eurolatinities
• Tienes manera diferente, tienes gustos diferentes
(Amanda, Brasil, 16)
• Si vens de fora et jutgen per l’aparença més que pel que ets.
(Vanessa, Ecuador, 13)
• Tengo una amiga que es muy latina como quien dice - ¿Qué
quieres decir ‘muy latina’? Que está solo con latinos, que no
quiere estar aquí y volvería a su país… Ella dice que lleva lo
latino en la sangre, en su forma de bailar, en su acento, en su
forma de ser... (Brenik, Ecuador, 16)
4. MIGRANT YOUTH IDENTITIES
•
•
•
•
•
•
Estilos
Pandillas
Bandas
Coros
Naciones
Organizaciones
The Latin King
and Queen Nation
• Chicago 1940:
Latin Kings
• New York 1985: ALKQN
• Guayaquil 1995:
STAE
• Madrid 2002:
STAS
Other Groups
•
•
•
•
•
Ñetas
Black Panthers
Mara Salvatrucha
Vatos Locos
Moro Kings
& Gypsy Kings
Structure:
from global to local
•
•
•
•
•
Chapter
Sector
Tribe
Nation
Empires
The Nation as the People
• Carles: What is a nation to you?
• King M.: A group of people who are governed by a single
government, race, constitution, laws.
• Carles: But this is a bit of a special kind of nation...
• King M.: Well it is almost the same: we live here as a nation
where we have a president, vice president, secretary,
treasurer, a counsellor, a war chief, teachers, our policies,
rules, we have a supreme court, judges ... Within our
organization, we live as a nation within another nation, which
is Spain.
The Nation as a Gang
• Carles: What is the difference between gang and nation?
• King P.: Gang is that everyone does what they want, while as a
nation we are all united, all striving for the same reasons: if
we suffer we all suffer if we have to laugh, we all laugh.
• King T.: The gang is almost a man, the leader. If he says, "Go
and steal", they will all steal. That’s why we have our own
Bible, our own laws. We have to abide by our laws, we are a
Nation of organised people.
The Nation as a Tribe
• King M.: Each tribe has its officers, its senior managers. STAE
[Sacred Tribe Atahualpa Ecuador, is the Ecuadorian section of
ALKQN Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, the official
name of the Nation] is a tribe, which is divided into several
chapters. We are guided by the sacred tribe, within the
empire. Chapters cover the tribes. All of that makes up an
empire. For example ours is the Holy Tribe Spanish Empire,
hence it is divided into chapters. Holy because it cannot be
sacred yet. It is sacred when you have a leader, who has
already achieved his independence. The process we are
leading is to enable us to be recognised as a sacred tribe.
The Nation as an Organization
• King F.: To introduce our culture, in it, right? Because we see
that the culture here is different from our culture, then we
have to try and say, hey, bring the two cultures closer and
embrace the culture here a little, you know? Forget a little bit
our ideals in our country, forget a little our culture, and adapt
to what's here, you know? And adapt to the laws that are
here, and the big differences between the countries, between
Latin America and this country.
The Nation as a Family
• King B.: I like the way people now realise that we are not the typical
people that the press have always portrayed ... so now people realise that
we are open to society and relate to everyone ... we are working people
who want to be friends with everyone ... we are not racist like many
people are here in Spain ... we want to live a quiet life without harming
anyone ... we are with the Nation and we are with the family, which is one
of the things that we want ... many say that if we are in the Nation it is
because we are in conflict with our family, our family does not understand
... and this is a big lie, because I love my family and my family loves me ...
But I like the Nation and I have time for all this ... for my family for the
Nation, for work. I even have time to get my driving license. I have time for
everything ... I do not lose because of the Nation, on the contrary, it has
always given me ... has made me find the best friends in life ... and all that
...
5. MIGRANT YOUTH AGENCY
• Young Mill:
We are family united as one
Unidos por el Flow specialising
In locating talent and growing
upcoming youth
They found me, groom me up
from grass to grace
• Queen Melody:
No hay horizontes ni fronteras
que nos separen
No hay diferencias de creencias ni
de mensajes
Unidos por el mismo sueño en
una canción
• (Unidos por el Flow, CD, 2008)
Concept
• El Webster Dictionary define
“flow” como “an smootth
uninterrupted movement”,
aunque otra acepción es “a
continuous transfer of
energy”.
• En la cultura hip-hop se
utiliza para denotar
movimiento y mezcla, en un
sentido musical y corporal, y
por extensión también
social y cultural.
Actors
• Kasal Juvenil de Nou Barris
• Ateneu Popular de Nou
Barris
• Organización Cultural de
Reyes y Reinas Latinos de
Cataluña
• Asociación Sociocultural,
Deportiva y Musical Ñetas
• Otros jóvenes del barrio
Methods
• investigación
participativa
• refleacción
• hip-hop intercultural
• K Industria Cultural
Outcomes
• Casa de América de
Madrid en diciembre de
2008 y en el CCC de
Barcelona
• CD
• DVD
• Book
• Mas que tres: teatro
cultural de hip-hop
CONCLUSIONS I
• By way of conclusion, we will attempt to relate the results of these
investigations with the other vertex of the “triangle” built around youth
(research, policy and work).
• When these exchanges are numerous, fertile or positive, the result is the
strengthening of areas for youth participation.
• But when exchanges are scarce, infertile or negative, the magic triangle
can become a Bermuda triangle, in which young people are not the
subject any more, but the object, they become invisible and disappear in a
symbolic way from centre stage: youth research decreases or is fed with
media stereotypes; youth policies suffer cutbacks or are subordinated to
security policies; youth work survives on the basis of voluntary work and
austerity.
Youth: Magic triangle…
Policies
YOUTH
Work
Research
Or the Bermuda triangle?
Police
YOUTH
Adultcentrism
Media
CONCLUSIONS II
• In our case, the triangle has been built and dismantled
according to the socio political conjunctures at each of the
stages of the research.
• During the first stage, the three vertexes were autonomous,
without interferences but with asymmetrical exchange; in a
context of economic growth and expanding social policies.
The initiative came from the public authorities (more precisely
from the local administration), who involved the academia in
a research that was meant to be applied; the academia
managed to involve the subjects, who found a space for
recognition and reflection within the study.
CONCLUSIONS III
• During the second stage, the dynamics generated met high
doses of synergy, with increasingly symmetrical relations and
interactions between the various agents, that had fruitful
effects in the acknowledgement of these groups as
associations.
• During the third stage, in a context of crisis and restrictive
social policies, there was a return to the traditional tripartite
model, where the three vertex were separated and zealous of
their autonomy, yet more and more aware that in order to
address the growing problems that affect those at the centre
(the young Latin) it is necessary to build a new model of
triangulation.
¡Cómo cambian los tiempos!