Vulnerabilities and Bolivian immigration in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil: between public health policies, deaths, and collective resistance

Abstract

The insertion of Bolivian immigrants in subcontracting circuits from the clothing industry and their living and working conditions became determining aspects of their visibility in the municipality of São Paulo, marking their entry into local political agendas. Considering the polysemy of the notion of vulnerability, the main objective of this study is to analyze aspects of the “vulnerabilities” of Bolivian immigration, which are visibly inscribed in political-institutional, epidemiological, and relational/procedural contexts. As a method of analysis, this study is based on the systematization of data from multiple sources and shows relations between the incorporation of immigrants in local policies, mortality data, and ethnographic reports on trajectories, presence in the city space, and identity processes, especially based on the action of Bolivian women and their organization in networks and collectives. We found aspects that reinforce and define patterns of vulnerability associated with certain attributes of this population. On the other hand, we observed survival strategies as mechanisms of collective resistance and re-signification of their ways of life in the city.