Desired immigrants - Frustrated Adventurers? Norwegians in Latin America, 1820 - 1940

Researchers in the project have studied the fate of Norwegian migrants in Latin America between 1820 and 1940. The number of Norwegians in Latin America was much larger than previously assumed, but still small compared to most other European migrations to Latin American countries. We have tried to explain both why they went, and why not many more Norwegians went to Latin America. Crucial in this regard has been the information remitted to relatives and acquaintances in migration networks. This information tended to become more negative with time, effectively limiting further migration from Norway to Latin America. But the experiences of Norwegians in Latin America varied considerably, depending on when and where they went, the amount of economic, social and cultural capital they brought with them and the economic and political circumstances of the countries which received them.

A multidisciplinary project involving researchers in Norway and Latin America, the aim of "Desired Immigrants - Frustrated Adventurers?" is to study Norwegian migration to Latin America between 1820 and 1940. The Norwegian migration is studied as an examp le of the many smaller ethnic and national migrant groups that arrived in Latin America during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Migrants to Latin America from Scandinavia, the Baltic region, Eastern and Central Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa, Korea, Japan and China represented a large number of different ethnic groups and nationalities and constituted a substantial percentage of migrants in Latin America, yet they have been studied to a far more limited extent than the Span ish, the Portuguese and the Italians. Important questions addressed concern class, occupation, geographic mobility within (and beyond) Latin America, cultural identities, representations of home and host countries and political outlooks and activities wit hin their new host societies. The project will produce new knowledge about the reception of migrants in Latin America and the interaction between migrants and host communities there. It may serve as a methodological model for other studies on migration wh ere the total number of migrants is not exceedingly large. A database including geographic mobility indicators, biographical information and links to texts written by or about the approximately 5,000 Norwegians who migrated to Latin America before 1940 is under construction. A unique resource for the study of migrant communities, the database will provide the basis for a range of studies on demographic and cultural aspects of the Norwegians in Latin America, also beyond the confines of this project.