Global Moves from and to Brazil

Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller have stated: “migration ranks as one of the most important factors in global change” (2003, p. 4). In this vein, the recent influx of immigrants to the United States over the past four decades, for example, has transformed ethnic and global landscapes significantly, as geographers have observed (e.g., Airriess & Miyares, 2007; Berry & Henderson, 2002; Frazier & Tettey-Fio, 2006; Kaplan & Li, 2006). Likewise, communities in places of origin (sending communities) ¹ are affected, not only when family members or loved ones migrate, but also when migrants return home. In the case of Brazil, as migration processes shape important economic and sociocultural dimensions in receiving communities, they also affect sending communities in Brazil, transforming places on many levels (Siqueira, 2007). Consequently, transnational migration processes have transformed individual and community livelihoods, including careers.