Diásporas contemporâneas: as experiências de refugiados da violência e imigrantes econômicos em Uberlândia/MG

Abstract

The current migration crisis is a phenomenon that generates anxiety and fear in the social environment. On one hand, there are those who resist receiving the "other" for fear that it may extinguish the well-being of an already established society (Bauman, 2017). On the other hand, there are those who need assistance from other countries, in general, Global North countries, and the scenario encountered is of negligence, humiliation and rejection by those who receive them (Bauman, 2017). Thus, in an attempt to better understand the drama experienced by refugees and economic immigrants as they seek for better life opportunities in another country, as a diaspora experience, I propose the following question: How do the experiences built by economic immigrants and refugees from violence , in the context of work, can be understood as a diaspora phenomenon? It is important to point out that refugees and immigrants are different concepts, in which the former is the one who is forced to leave his/her country to save his/her life, with no possibility of return, while the latter is someone who chose to leave his/her place of origin and can return at any time (Freitas & Dantas, 2011). In this dissertation, therefore, I proposed as a general objective to understand, comparatively, how the experiences built by these people, in the context of work, can be understood as a diaspora phenomenon. As it is related to the organizational level, it’s necessary to understand that, as well as a bright side, organizations also have a dark side, aiming the profit and consequently leading to difficult consequences for the society's welfare, especially for the most vulnerable groups (Linstead, Maréchal & Griffin, 2014). To achieve the results, I used ethnographic research with participant observation in an NGO that works with refugees and economic immigrants in the city of Uberlandia/MG, as well as semi-structured interviews with 16 people, refugees and economic immigrants. As a result, I have interpreted the exploitation of outsiders' vulnerability as established in the work context, highlighting the coloniality and power relations present in the organizational context and part of the dark side of organizations.