LASA/EANLAS: Rethinking Trans-Pacific Ties: Asia and Latin America

Overseas Chinese Diaspora Engagement in Brazil and Paraguay: Migrants’ Associations, Subnational Governments, and Trade Promotion

• In Event: Trans-Pacific Business

Abstract

Origin countries have increasingly engaged with diasporas for reasons that are economic (like foreign investment, remittances, and human capital), political (public diplomacy and soft power) and identitarian (care for the population abroad and ethnonationalism). Despite the growing literature on state-diaspora relations, less attention has been paid to the role of migrants’ associations and subnational governments in diaspora engagement. Based on ten-year ethnographic research that includes observation, interviews, and document analysis, this paper analyzes the role of overseas Chinese associations in Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and São Paulo (Brazil) for the implementation of diaspora policies designed by cities and provinces of origin as well as diaspora-specialized agencies. How do the migrants’ associations facilitate Taiwanese and Chinese engagement with the overseas Chinese populations in Paraguay and Brazil? The paper argues that the migrants’ associations (such as native-place, demographics-based, and occupation-related associations) play a key role in the integration of migrants in sectors of the informal economy, particularly street vendors, stallholders, shopkeeper, and importers catering to low-income consumers in Ciudad del Este and São Paulo. The migrants’ associations promote trade with Asian hubs primarily in four ways: supporting migrant business, brokering for subnational governments of the homeland, promoting new migration destinations, and representing migrants in public affairs. By mobilizing the diaspora, organizing community affairs, and participating in local and national politics, the associations develop transnational practices that articulate the engagement with the diaspora, foster international trade, and cultivate “Chinese-ness” as a form of entrepreneurial ethos among migrants.

Author

• Douglas De Toledo Piza, Lafayette College