The Invisibility Bargain: Governance Networks and Human Security for Migrants in Ecuador

Featuring Jeffrey D. Pugh

Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution, University of Massachusetts Boston; Executive Director, Center for Mediation, Peace, and Resolution of Conflict (CEMPROC)

In an era of mass migration and restrictive responses, the acceptance of migrants is often contingent on the expectation that they contribute economically to the host country while remaining politically and socially invisible. These unwritten expectations, which Pugh refers to as the "invisibility bargain" in his recent book from Oxford University Press, produce a precarious status where migrants' visible differences or overt political demands may be met with hostile backlash from the host society. 

By examining the case of Colombians in Ecuador, the largest recipient of refugees in Latin America, Pugh shows how migrants negotiate their place in host societies and adapt innovative strategies to integrate, participate, and access protection.