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Transnational Social Protection and the Role of Countries of Origin: The Cases of Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Ecuador

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Latin American Diasporas in Public Diplomacy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy ((GPD))

Abstract

From the 1990s onward, several emigration countries implemented new programs to engage with their diasporas, as part of their public diplomacy efforts. These programs focus mainly on activities that promote conventional social services such as education, health, and labor rights, as well as non-conventional services tailored to the immigrants’ needs, such as labor certifications, remittance investment, and social services to non-migrant relatives. Hence, countries of origin now offer additional protection services to diaspora communities, which are part of the transnational social protection (TSP) framework. This concept accounts for all sorts of practices and actors that intervene in the well-being of people on the move, including origin countries. This comparative case study examines the role of Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Ecuador in the provision of social rights to their diasporas, emphasizing the role of consular services. It also explains why and how these countries engage their diasporas through TSP.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Spanish the process was referred as “ciudadanización de la migración.”

  2. 2.

    Figure 2.1. is published with permission of Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México graphic designer Karla Gabriela Contreras Pascual, from the División de Investigación y Posgrado (Division of Research and Graduate Studies).

  3. 3.

    As indicated in the previous footnote, Fig. 2.1. is published with permission of Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México graphic designer Karla Gabriela Contreras Pascual, from the División de Investigación y Posgrado (Division of Research and Graduate Studies).

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  1. Universidad Iberoamericana, México City, Mexico

    Karla A. Valenzuela-Moreno

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  1. School of Communications, Elon University, Elon, NC, USA

    Vanessa Bravo

  2. College of Communication, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Maria De Moya

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Valenzuela-Moreno, K.A. (2021). Transnational Social Protection and the Role of Countries of Origin: The Cases of Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Ecuador. In: Bravo, V., De Moya, M. (eds) Latin American Diasporas in Public Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74564-6_2

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