Territorial isolation and social expectations about the children: the case of the cove Paposo

Abstract

Territorial isolation affects different dimensions of the development of the populations that suffer from it. Its effects on materiality are the most visible; the lack of infrastructure, public services and connectivity clearly reduces the social welfare of isolated populations. However, the consequences on the subjectivity of these populations, although less visible than the former, may be more significant. This paper analyses how the social expectations that families have of their children are affected by a situation of territorial isolation. To this end, a survey was conducted among two groups of mothers of students in the Antofagasta Region. The first group resides in an isolated territory of the region, Cove Paposo, while the second group resides in the regional capital, Antofagasta. The results show that mothers in the isolated territory have lower economic expectations and higher expectations of migration for their children.