Migration from a Dialectical and Historical Materialist perspective

Abstract

The large and growing contingent of migrants in the world today who move in different directions, occupying a peripheral place in terms of space, occupation, education and access to public services, leads us to problematize analyses about the phenomenon of migration. In this direction, we present some theoretical supports for research about this theme. The objective is to contribute with analyses that seek to go beyond appearances and capture the multiple determinations of the concrete, that is, to understand the reality that moves workers and their families to migrate. We understand that migratory movements accompany the process of capital expansion in the direction of accumulation, given that capitalist accumulation produces a population of surplus labor, according to Marx, which is available to be sent in different locations and production sectors. We conclude that the category of migration a historical materialist perspective is a phenomenon that originates in the expropriation of the means of subsistence and the exploitation of labor, and therefore, cannot be understood outside of these processes. In this perspective, we use the categories of accumulation, commodity, industrial reserve army and spatial expansion of capital to analyze the movement of workers.