Not in the Eyes of the Beholder: Envy Among Bolivian Migrants in Spain

Abstract

This article explores a culturally sensitive topic, envy, among Bolivian migrants in Spain. Following a constructivist approach to emotions, we examine discourses of envy, as they are shaped by the cultural contexts in which they emerge. Our study uses a sample of 30 transnational households and multi-sited ethnography to illustrate the ways emotions and their effects on sociality serve as a mechanism of social control, especially when the boundaries of such a community have been stretched transnationally. Envy is an important component of a belief system central to understanding the emergence, or lack thereof, of trust and solidarity among migrants and can shape the types of social relations and conflicts between migrants and non-migrant households back in Bolivia. These conflicts have been exacerbated by economic instability, high unemployment rates and precarious wages especially for the undocumented migrant community in Spain.

Brazilian immigrant entrepreneurs' support networks and bounded (mis)trust in Western Australia

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A Mixed‐Method Analysis of Remittance Scripts Among Bolivian Immigrants in Spain

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Locating the Global in Transnational Ethnography

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