Freedom Against Control: Bolivian Circular Mobility Tradition in the Spanish and International Migration Policies Context

Abstract

Although Bolivian migration has always been diverse and its patterns cannot be generalized into a single mobility model, it is possible to find a cyclical tradition in the way Bolivian families have alternated migration to different destinations with home-returning decisions throughout the time. Studying the current situation of Bolivians in Spain, this chapter focuses on a problematic hypothesis that suggests that that circular mobility tradition is facing a period of crisis and redefinition due to internal factors, which come from its own complexity (job and retirement plans, family assimilation to destiny societies, etc.), and due to external factors, especially related with ``migration management{''} policies that avoid free circulation unless this one is controlled and harmonic to the receiving country's needs.