Negotiating Identity and Belonging through the Invisibility Bargain: Colombian Forced Migrants in Ecuador

Abstract

This article argues that an “invisibility bargain” constrains migrants’ identities and political participation, demanding their economic contributions plus political and social invisibility in exchange for tolerance of their presence in the host country. In response, migrants negotiate their visible identity differences, minimize social distance from the host population, and build informal coalitions with non-state brokers to avoid citizen backlash against overt political activism. Examining Colombian forced migrants in Ecuador, the article challenges state-centric governance approaches, underscoring migrant agency in negotiating identity to influence social hierarchies, coexistence, and human security. Its findings advance the broader understanding of migration in the Global South.

South-South migration: a study on refugees working in small and medium Brazilian enterprises

“…The speech of the Angolan refugee R4 above shows that prejudice can reveal itself in other aspects such as the racial issue, which is in line with the literature (Peters, 2017;Pugh, 2017). The flow of refugees in South-South migration is within the context of racial and historical prejudices.…”

“…Many difficulties faced by immigrants are due to prejudice and xenophobia. Especially when it comes to emigrants from developing countries to developed countries where xenophobia remains strongly rooted (Bemak & Chung, 2017;Crush & Ramachandran, 2010;Peters, 2017;Pugh, 2017).…”

“…Another problem consists of emigrants from underdeveloped and developing countries to countries that are also underdeveloped or developing (South-South migration); prejudice can be revealed in other aspects (for example, race) (Peters, 2017;Pugh, 2017). As an example, those on the African continent, where prejudice is also linked to the skin colour.…”

“Let us define ourselves”: forced migrants’ use of multiple identities as a tactic for social navigation

“…For this paper’s purpose, we define identity as the story about the self [ 24 ]. Further, the notion of how life events can shape people’s identities in the era of globalisation has gained much currency in the migration field, where identity construction is seen as involving lived experiences as well as a mental state susceptible to sustain significant life changes that involve place, people, culture, and so forth [ 25 , 26 ].…”

“…Meanwhile, it has been noted that migrants are significantly more exposed to identity change than other social groups [ 25 , 27 , 28 ]. The flight of forced migrants into exile results in a loss of identity.…”