Formal Social Institutions of Citizen Participation for Unconventional International Migrants in Chile

Abstract

The increase in immigration to Chile has included recent introduction
of unconventional migrants into the country. This classification
is attributed to the foreigners who come from the developed countries carrying
with them social, cultural and financial capitals, and who express an
intention to deploy an alternative life project. The examples were observed
in the places located in the Northern Chilean Patagonia. This paper looks
at the instances of citizen participation stipulated in the constitutional and
other legislature with the emphasis on the integration of the unconventional
migrants. The analyzed formal instances of participation lack clarity and
flexibility, as well as dissemination of information about them. The pending
the new regulation (Chilean Law on Foreigners) could correct for the
effective implementation of this tool for local governance. The result of this
could be the restructuring of the socio-cultural reality in the public sphere
in the locations chosen as the new place of residence by the unconventional
foreign migrants.