Abstract

OTAZU, Mikel Aramburu. “Good life”, “hard life”: deservingness and memory of migration in ­Catalonia. Etnográfica [online]. 2020, vol.24, n.1, pp.201-223. ISSN 0873-6561.  https://doi.org/10.4000/etnografica.8442.

In liberal redistributive systems, the separate categories of beneficiaries and taxpayers are usually constructed. The deservingness of the former is questioned and a sense of distributive resentment is generated in the latter. This article addresses this issue from the perspective of territorial redistribution at the state level, which in the case of Catalonia has been one of the hottest political issues in recent decades. This article makes an approximation of the sons and daughters of migrants from the south of Spain living in Greater Barcelona. In spite of the logical plurality of visions, a recurrent narrative stands out according to which the “good life” in their parents’ communities of origin, of which they can offer personal testimonies, contrasts with (and to a large extent is explained by) the “hard life” in Barcelona. The distributive discrimination discourse has a special relevance when framed by the role that the memory of migration (which is largely a memory of urbanization) has in the self-image of our interlocutors since, in some way, it strengthens and at the same time weakens the sense of redistributive injustice. At the same time, the idea of “deserving” is articulated in a complex way. The undeserved character of the “hard life” in Barcelona is highlighted in contrast to the “good life” in the villages of origin, but the informants usually nuance this by adding comments that strive to not morally blame their relatives and “countrymen”.

Keywords : distributive justice; good life; deservingness; memory of the migration; Catalonia.

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