Migration, Gender, and Politics

Abstract

Emigrant support for 2006 Peruvian presidential candidate Lourdes Flores (the choice of the conservative Unidad Nacional coalition) was enough to win her the first electoral round abroad, but this tendency was not reflected in Peru. Data gathered during a 2006 study in Spain highlight the importance of gender and ideological reasons for understanding the electoral behavior of Peruvian migrants. Peruvian emigrant communities have the potential to play a crucial role in Peruvian politics not only in electoral choices but also in the form of political “remittances” flowing through these increasingly influential transnational social spaces.