Social representations of racism and social exclusion. Contemporary Haitian human mobility in Latin America

Abstract

The objective is to document and interpret the representations about racism and social exclusion that Haitian people in a condition of transnational migration have built, from experiences during integration processes in host cities in Chile and Mexico. Based on theoretical references on social representations and a conceptual fabric between racism, social exclusion and job insecurity, a content analysis is carried out with a narrative approach focused on the discourse of the interviewees. The results show representations that project daily lives symbolically violated by practices generated in the receiving societies, marked by racism, social exclusion and employability in precarious situations. These tensions are linked to an irregular migratory condition, they are recurrent although not generalized. They reflect, to different degrees and different nuances, a structural condition that operates at the macro and micro social levels in both Chile and Mexico.