The political construction of the border. Between nationalist discourses and the “production” of precarious worker

Abstract

This article discusses migratory movement control policies and the production of migrant populations destined to “supply” precarious labor markets. We use as an analytical example the case of Chile and the measures implemented in 2018 by the national government towards Venezuelan and Haitian migration. We analyze how the process of borderization allows us to understand the exercises of cultural and identity delimitation of the nation, and the construction of subjects whose economic and social insertion is conditioned to spaces of vulnerability. To do so, we will present a state of the art regarding the concept of border and characterize the main policies and measures adopted by the Chilean government towards migratory flows from Venezuela and Haiti. Finally, we deliver the main conclusions arising from these cases, in particular the effects of migration control and management measures on the differentiated and selective construction of these movements.