Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

German immigration, ethnicity and professional identity: colonization in Joinville (Dona Francisca), province of Santa Catarina. 1851-1889

ABSTRACT

This article explores land occupation by foreign immigrants in the region of Joinville, in the Brazilian province of Santa Catarina. We question the theses that argue that what prevailed was a society that could be characterized as a homogenous ethnic and cultural community. Based on the list of emigrants who departed from Hamburg, Germany, reports from the Hamburg Settlement Society and numerous correspondence, we attempt to identify the vocational and professional profile of immigrants, and to discern the internal tensions arising amongst different subgroups of settlers. We then go on to demonstrate identity fractures and social conflicts resulting from immigrants’ assimilation strategies, as linked to a project of control over modes of organizing material life.

Keywords:
professional identity; ethnicity; colonization; migration

Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho Faculdade de Ciências e Letras, UNESP, Campus de Assis, 19 806-900 - Assis - São Paulo - Brasil, Tel: (55 18) 3302-5861, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, UNESP, Campus de Franca, 14409-160 - Franca - São Paulo - Brasil, Tel: (55 16) 3706-8700 - Assis/Franca - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revistahistoria@unesp.br