4.1 Immigration and religion: rituals alive today in peru and spain

This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, Volume 5, Number 1 (January – March 2010). Formatted and edited in Connexions by Julia Stanka, Texas A&M University.

Immigration and religion: rituals alive today in peru and spain

Carlos Junquera Rubio

Emigration is a word that is understood and applied to people who must leave their land of origin when it does not satisfy their economic necessities at a certain moment in its history. Ethnicity is part of our identity, making us feel part of a certain ethnic group and also excluding us from others as a result of the connection. The perception of ethnicity and the conduct associated with it alters its force within the diverse ethnic groups and countries, and throughout time like a variable historical product.

“Subcultures begin and are developed depending on ethnicity, class, region and religion, and sometimes, language” (Junquera Rubio, 1996, pp. 197-227). However, this is not always the case; for example, the Alsatians are and feel French, but their maternal language is German. They have never wished to be German and when they were forced to, they returned to France as soon as they could. This generates a remarkable neocultural novelty (Junquera Rubio, 1996, pp. 221-222; 1999, pp. 85-107).

The individuals that form social groups have ties with more than one identity; for example, a Cuzqueño is also Peruvian. The Arequipeños, Piuranos, Lambayecanos, Loretanos, and others, maintain remarkable differences. A Piurano feels far from those of Cuzco, just like any individual from the mountains distrusts those of other regions, or the Mestizos of the forest which try to maintain their distance.

Not all agree on the experience of certain religious celebrations. People’s faith is in accordance to their neighborhoods, family, ethnic group, country, etc. In complex societies, like the European, people buy and sell their social identities constantly. We see this when immigrants wish to manage papers in order to legalize their situation. Likewise, anyone of us is disposed to acquire any perspective in order to fit the position in the society into which we try to locate ourselves.

Peruvian emigrants in Madrid have increased remarkably in the last years. In April of 2005 there were more than 84,000 distributed throughout Spain, according to provisional data spread by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This number represents 2.29% of the total of resident foreigners, and must be valued considering that the total of foreigners stands around 3.69 million people. According to the INE, the foreign population represents 8.4% of Spain’s total population. A good part of these citizens are found in Barcelona and Madrid. This number does not include those who have obtained the Spanish nationality yet still feel Peruvian at heart and live their traditions here. Peruvian identity in Madrid is maintained in the following celebrations: (a) the Celebration of the Inti Raymi, (b) the Lord of Miracles and (c) the Cross of the Chalpón or Motupe.