Mujeres latinoamericanas en el mercado laboral de Antofagasta durante el ciclo salitrero, 1880-1930

Abstract

During the boom of the nitrate cycle, Antofagasta Region showed an economic and demographic growth higher than the national mean. In this process, it received a strong Latin American migration flow. Women were a significant part of this immigration contingent. We are interested in highlighting four aspects of the presence of Peruvian, Bolivian, and Argentinian women, which are related to regional society: a) Marriage patterns indicating the extent of exogamy or endogamy of the studied groups; b) Geographic origin of female migrants in the zone studied; c) Their main occupation and forms of integration in the labor market; d) Family structures, through the identification of migrant family groups and the way the migrant process occurred.