What does it Really Mean to Talk About Forced Displacement or Mobility? A Reflection from the Latin American Context

Abstract

Forced mobility or displacement has multiple causes associated to human and non-human threats in people’s physical and emotional integrity. These threats are developed in direct relation to the territory and their relation to aspects that have to do with the degree of voluntariness of the people affected and their living circumstances —as well as with the movement as a survival strategy—, makes of them a topic of utmost importance as part of the present, at the same time as of the past and recent history of Latin America. This article is a reflection on the meaning of the forced mobility concept, at the same time that analyses the differences among the various forms that compose it, that is, forced migration, internal displacement and exile. This proposal originates due to our concern on the little conceptual clarity that exists on these terms, and is supported by the experience of empirical research in three regions: The Southern Cone of Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the Mexico-Guatemala border region.