Love, sex, marriage and mobilities in times of crises: sex and marriage markets involving Brazil and Spain

Abstract

The aim of this project is to explore how sexual/affective heterosexual transnational relationships affect the displacements between Spain and Brazil in the present economic conjuncture. In contrast to the opportunities that are opening in Brazil the economic crises that affects several European countries, particularly Spain, is stimulating the migration of Europeans to Brazil as well as the return migration of Brazilians. At the same time, however, a number of Brazilian migrants are making efforts to remain abroad and Spain still attracts fluxes of Brazilian citizens. Fapesp's fellowship will support a research phase to be carried out in Barcelona, with the aim of analyzing the effects of the new geopolitical position of Brazil in the sexual and affective relationships of migrants that try to avoid return migration and of Spanish citizens that would like to migrate to Brazil. The research universe will be integrated by Brazilian men and women that live in Barcelona and have occupied different work sectors in Spain and by their Spanish partners and also by Spanish citizens whose search for sexual affective relationships is connected with their project of migrating to Brazil. Creating a perspective based on the outcomes of previous researches carried out in Spain the main objectives of these fieldwork are: a) to understand the connections of those relationships with the present mobilities between Spain and Brazil; b) to analyze in comparative terms how gender, articulated with other differentiation categories, mainly nationality, permeates those relationships; c) to consider the effects of those categories in the couples' social dynamics, in the insertion in the migratory contexts and in the re-configurations of differentiation categories. (AU)