Oldal 26 [26]
MODERNIZATION, MIGRATION AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE ARGENTINE CASE, 1870-1945
Endogamy (the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group) is a key
indicator because it explains many aspects of the family process, especially
the socialization of the second generation of immigrants. Besides, exogamic
marriages with natives were associated with lower probabilities of return to
their country.
Exogamy was the rule during the early phases of immigration, before 1850.
In contrast, the mass migration period shows a more complex panorama.
Nevertheless, there are some clear patterns. First, the sex imbalance of the
migratory flux (men were more numerous, as usual in the 19‘ century) produced
a high level of endogamy in European women. In contrast, European men were
more exogamous with native women. In other words, the Argentine Melting
Pot happened without native men. The influence of the imbalanced sex ratio
was increased by patriarchal power and the lack of freedom of women to choose
their partners out of their family, regional and ethnic circle.
Second, Spaniards and Italians (in that order) were the most endogamous
groups, while the French were the most open to mixed marriages. Third,
exogamy was higher in the small and intermediate cities than in the largest
ones due to the more imbalanced sex ratio (a surplus of men), less or no
spatial segregation and, last but not least, higher social uniformity in terms
of salaries and consumption. The opposite happened, naturally, in the big
cities. Endogamy was also important in the second and the third generation
of immigrants, at least in the largest cities, as the census of Buenos Aires in
1936 shows.!!
Fourth, minority groups from a quantitative point of view, such as the
Germans or Danish, or religious groups, such as the Jews and Protestants,
were much more endogamous than majority ones. The cultural distance in
terms of language and religion, two variables clearly associated, from the host
society and from Catholic groups, also explains why levels of endogamy were
long-lasting.
Finally, the endogamy of the first generation of immigrants decreased in
all majority groups. This process, clearly associated with the evolution of the
migratory flux, was still in evidence in the 1920s.
Concerning the second indicator, the residence patterns of immigrants, the
index shows a certain level of segregation in the largest cities such as Buenos
Aires, but with two important caveats. On the one hand, these levels were
similar to the internal and Latin American immigrants. On the other hand,
the international comparison shows that Buenos Aires was one of the least
1 Susana Torrado: La transicién de la nupcialidad. Dindmica del mercado matrimonial, in
Torrado, Susana (comp.): Poblacién y bienestar en la Argentina del primero al segundo
Centenario. Una historia social del siglo XX, Buenos Aires, Editorial EDHASA, Vol. 1, 399¬
438.