"Imported outbreak": crisis migrations in Brazil in the 2010's

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the economy of distribution of differences among migrants in Brazil in the 2010’s. To that end, we analyze the case of the Haitians and Venezuelans. The empirical material consists of news reports regarding the arrival of these people in Brazil, in which perceptions of policy makers, politicians, NGOs and Brazilians themselves are shown, especially the ones focusing on alleged risks that these migrants bring to health in Brazil. Both the Haitian and Venezuelan flows in the country are good empirical examples of the production of symbolic boundaries constructed within the image of these migrants. The association between some nationalities and certain pathologies, along with the metaphors of danger used when describing the mass of migrants - “invasion”, “collapse”, “catastrophe” – constitute a turning point in the construction of a hegemonic discourse about Brazil as an exemplary accommodator of racial, ethnic and cultural differences.