The Self-built Periphery: Migration, Informality and Urban Segregation in Argentina

Abstract

This paper intends to reflect on the historical depth of the problem of access to urban space by South American migrants, especially Bolivians, Paraguayans and Peruvians, in contemporary Argentina. Based on a qualitative methodology and considering the theoretical contributions of the perspective of the autonomy of migration, this study reconstructs certain continuities in the Í€œState thoughtÍ€ that tends to associate certain migration with the increase of housing problems and, at the same time, shows the capacity of agency of the migrant population regarding the social production of habitat. Hence, urban migrant trajectories express not only forms of spatial segregation, but also the existence of a Í€œsubaltern urbanismÍ€ that organizes and structures the daily life of a large group of migrant population.