Migration and territory: migrants perceptions of the Campanha region

Abstract

The term globalization describes increased mobility of capital, goods and services as well as greater mobility of people. In the past few years there has been a growing interest in the issue of ownership of the spaces by migrants in the context of migration studies, since migrants constantly define and redefine their relationships with the territory. Whereas migration implies a process of (de) territorialization , which is not consecutive and orderly, this article provides some reflections on migrants perceptions about their milieu of origin. Through a qualitative approach, this study turns to the analysis of the migrants perceptions from the Campanha region (RS) who are settling in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre. It focuses on thematic issues such as the sense of belonging, regional identity and regional development, which are often used by migrants to (re)define the region of origin.