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Improving Oneself

Young People Getting Ahead in the Peruvian Andes

University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada

Among rural-to-urban migrants in Peru, the concept of "improving oneself" (superar) refers to the process of overcoming poverty through dedicated efforts at self-improvement. This individual effort is situated as a moral act, occurring within a relational web of persons who should also benefit. It is described as a family project and a moral imperative for young people, and they internalize their role in this group effort. The concept is the economic, social, and moral foundation of the kinship strategy of child circulation, a practice in which children grow up outside of their natal homes. "Improving oneself" is a reason for relocating children into the homes of better-off urban relatives, as well as the justification for placing children with less-well-off rural relatives so that a parent can pursue the same goal.

Key Words: Children • Migration • Kinship • Gender • Poverty

Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 35, No. 4, 60-78 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0094582X08318979


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