Diversitate si Identitate Culturala in Europa (Nov 2012)
IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING NEW. CHRONICLES OF DUTCH MOBILITIES IN ARGENTINA BETWEEN 1880 AND 1914
Abstract
Religion played a pivotal role in configuring the mixture between migrant delivering and receiving countries a couple of centuries back, although today the mobility is based on secular values. The present essay explores the life of Dutch migrants in Argentina, their expectations and reason to leave their homes behind. The religious compatibility between the Protestant and Catholic matrix was more than important in selecting or discarding Argentina as a first destination. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the point of gravity between delivering and receiving countries was determined by religion. The Korstanje life story is one among the thousands of Dutch migrants, which reflects the conditions of selective migratory flows which founded Argentina. Unlike modern mobile groups, many of the migrants were driven by cultural compatibilities and religious affiliation. The material imbalances that triggered their displacement to unknown lands were not solved once they arrived. In Argentina many of them were circumscribed to work without satisfying their basic needs.
