Self-Representations

increase his social status and allow him to build a luxurious house, just like those he witnessed in Senegal built by the ‘migration money’. His shame, thus, comes from the paradoxical situation in which he found himself doing an activity that he would never do in Senegal because of its low social status. At the same time, he knows that his life abroad is imagined as a success by his friends and relatives.

The structural context of the Argentine Nation-state deprives Senegalese men of the fundamental civil right to access the formal labour market, causing a significant disjuncture between what they imagined and what they found: being stranded as street vendors in Argentina after all their physical and imaginative mobility (Salazar 2020:6).

I showed how my participants’ imaginations were informed by cultural dimensions, such as fulfilling family’s expectations, becoming a man or being ashamed of their paradoxical status.

At the same time, their representations were shaped by structural conditions, such as the way they crossed borders and the impossibility of accessing better jobs. Moreover, many felt disappointed with what they encountered in Argentina and wished to go back to Senegal. In the next section, I will present how these cultural and structural dimensions interplay with the ways in which they self-represent to significant others back in Senegal.

who argues “Commerce is our blood²²” (quoted in Espiro, 2012:9). Espiro suggests that her interlocutor does not want to show those pictures because the business is not going as expected (ibid).

Although commerce is very common in some areas in Senegal, not all of it is a sign of identity and proudness for them, like the case Moussa previously presented. While most of my interlocutors also did not want to present themselves as street vendors to their families, I argue that it is not because their business might not go well, but because of the very activity of selling in the street. Street selling, regardless of the economic performativity, is considered for many as something to be ashamed of because it does not match with the imaginary of a successful migrant man. Moreover, street selling is so stigmatised that many hide this activity also to avoid getting their families worried about them. Furthermore, some interlocutors said that they just do not want to share this aspect of private life.

Shame

In his research among Senegalese youngsters in the Pikine region of Senegal, Porthmann concludes that “Working as a street seller or doing other menial jobs was usually considered to be demeaning and physical labour was often thought to indicate a backwardness that was supposed to be reserved for the poor and uneducated people” (2017:5). Thus, being ashamed of the labour activity abroad is an axis that articulates the way they imagine themselves and how they self-represent towards their significant others back in Senegal. This is manifested by trying to maintain a facade of success and wealth.

Ndiaga expressed that most Senegalese migrants are ashamed of what they are doing for a living. He argued that in Senegal, he would never do such work, it would be shameful. It is considered to be for the poorest. And we shall remember that migration is an expensive undertaking, not affordable for the most impoverished classes. However, according to Ndiaga, one can start from ‘scratch’ abroad, ‘nobody’ knows you and ‘everybody’ is doing the same job, making it easier for him to do it without feeling ashamed.

As presented in the previous chapter, Moussa finished high school. This is a significant achievement in a country where 42.2% over 3 years old do not attend the official education

22 Translated from Spanish: “El comercio es nuestra sangre”

system (Espiro, 2017). When in Argentina, Moussa did something that everyone prefers rather than walking around, he went from ambulante -peddling- to have a fixed spot in a centric street of La Plata. I asked if in his five years living in Argentina, he ever told a friend in Senegal what he is doing for a living. He said that only to some of his friends living in Europe, he stated that some of them are in a similar position than he is, or even worse. Some minutes further, when talking about his impression on finding out he would work as an ambulante, he mentioned how ashamed he felt, and added that “in Senegal, if I see a lot of people sitting, I cannot go there [pointing at his right side], I am going to go there [pointing to his left side], I am going to go there”. He implied that he feels so ashamed of the activity performed in Argentina that he could not even meet his friends back in Senegal.

I asked Moussa if he told his family that he works in the street. He replied that his mother has known about it for a few years now, but he told his father not long ago. Moussa’s dad never really asked him what he was doing for a living, but recently he got worried because his son was not sending enough money. Moussa opened up to his parent and explained that due to covid-19 and the heavy Argentinian measures, he could not earn any money at all. He imagined that migration would bring something that matched aspirations of a well-educated man, ending up as a street vendor did not correlate with his image.

The ways in which they self-represent are the ways in which they want to be imagined. I, therefore, argue that self-representation management is a way of putting a cultural embedded imagination into practice. In further lines, I will show more examples of this status paradox, while adding a layer of complexity by showing that some migrants also try not to get their families worried about them. Moreover, I will bring up diverging voices on how to self-represent towards people back in Senegal.

Not Having Mom Worried

The ways in which my participants self-represent are often directed to significant others who can recognise or disapprove their experience as successful migrants. Parental figures, and here in particular women classified as mothers play a particular role. The self-representation seems not as closed as with others and some more details are shared. At the same time the information is carefully edited, aiming that there are no worries evoked back home. The communication thereby functions as proof that the son is doing good abroad. This way, attempting to manage imaginaries of people at home.

Moustafa informed only his mother about working in the street, no other relatives. However, he would take pictures of himself next to police officers²³ and send them to his mother, he would say to her "See? Here is safe, we can work" and explain that the police is "buena gente"

(good people) in Argentina. His mother would be very pleased to see these images and Moustafa would be happy not having his mother worried. After a few years in La Plata, Moustafa managed to open his own store. Opening a shop is a big achievement and is highly respected by all the Senegalese migrants, and myself included. This is partly what the culture of migration is about, to make money through hard work and see your progress reflected in material and symbolic success recognized by a significant other. He told me that now he makes video calls with his mother almost everyday, but always inside his shop. I witnessed it myself during one of my visits, he was video-calling his mother while playing some videos of Senegalese religious celebrations.

Regarding his family he said that they all know that he and his brothers are sellers, but not in the street, he wouldn't like his mother to be worried, he stated that "(...) mothers are the same as all mothers, if she knows that we are on the street and we have to run [from police], you will worry her a lot, she will not sleep, she will always think of us. That we live like this. We live running from the police. So, that is why".

Thierno also has achieved something highly desired by many Senegalese in La Plata: a job with a steady salary, holidays and health insurance. He has been hired by the biggest workers union in Argentina, U.O.C.R.A²⁴ to work in the construction sector. Moreover, he does not have to work in the street anymore, no more running away from the police and no more being cold outside. Thierno informed his mother that he is working but he does not want to tell her that he works in construction because she might get worried that his job is too heavy, neither has she asked him.

23 Relations between Senegalese street workers and security forces are complex and context-dependent. There are four types of security controls, two local, one at the province level, and one national. I wrote about these relationships in my bachelor's thesis (Espana, 2017).

24 Unión Obrera de la Construcción de la República Argentina (Construction Workers' Union of the Argentine Republic). For more information about Senegalese in the construction sector check Paganini, 2018.

Ndiaga commented on the issue of self-representation in social media as well. He stated that most of the Senegalese abroad, either in Argentina or somewhere else, tend to filter information to their friends and relatives and take good care of not being seen in social media while working or experiencing any struggle. Ndiaga has been at the forefront of Senegalese protests and demonstrations in La Plata. He has represented the community several times, and his face is in almost every video related to the legal situation of the Senegalese migrants in the city.

Moreover, he makes posts on Facebook about the struggles and hardships they are going through. This has been conflictive with his fellow nationals, which he often represents in public debates, and even Senegalese living in Europe have told him not to share this information online, but he does not care about it. They said that he would have his and everyone’s family worried by letting them watch those videos. Ndiaga remarked that some Senegalese are concerned about not preoccupying their families abroad, especially their moms. He expressed that "What happens is that if you do not communicate with your family, your family does not know what you are living. Back there [in Senegal] if they see one thing on the internet, they can get scared thinking about something else". Ndiaga maintains active contact with his loved ones, and while being open about his situation abroad, he makes sure his family does not worry about him, thereby managing imaginaries of relatives back in Senegal. After all, with a lot of hard work and effort, he can provide the economic support they need, the material proof of his relative success. He is indeed fulfilling certain expectations from a ‘successful’ migrant.

Private Life

Some of my participants expressed that they value privacy in certain aspects of their lives.

These aspects are always related to work and sometimes to affective life. Ibrahim told me that only his best friend knows that he is a vendor, but he did not tell him that the job is in the street.

He added that “neither they ask nor we tell them (...) the things I do are always private”. My interlocutor never uploads pictures of himself to social media where one could guess his actual job or any kind of situation where one could infer that Ibrahim is going through a hard time.

He had participated in several demonstrations of Senegalese workers demanding dignified labour conditions or denouncing police abuse, and none of these situations is represented on social media. He added that he prefers to keep the "bad things" for himself and just tell the

"nice things", such as playing soccer or attending Spanish lessons.

Despite being in a very good position in comparison to most of the Senegalese in Argentina, Thierno chooses not to tell anybody outside La Plata what he does for a living. He said that

besides being afraid of someone putting a spell on him, his life is private, "What good does it do if people know? It does not make me more, it does not make me less". He chooses to upload pictures or videos to Instagram or Facebook, wearing nice clothes, attending Spanish lessons, eating out, posing with friends, or boarding a plane, but nothing related to his labour activity or affective life. Thierno concluded that he does not ask anybody about their personal affairs, not in Senegal nor his friends in Europe. He concluded by saying, "it is a cultural thing". I interpret that not showing specific aspects of their lives is directly connected with the practice of don’t ask-don’t tell described in Chapter 2. His opinions about why people don’t tell things from abroad²⁵ are translated into the ways in which he self-represents in social media. As mentioned before, Porthmann (2018) suggests that not only street selling is considered a demeaning activity, but physical labour is also supposed to be destined for non-educated people. Considering that Thierno did finish high school, he might be feeling a class disjuncture by the activity performed abroad. Although he never expressed to be ashamed of what he does for a living, he could be in the ambiguous position in which he imagines that his job is something demeaning for certain people in Senegal, but in La Plata he is considered successful by his peers.

Resignifying Labour Abroad

While most self-representations discussed so far were directed towards people in Senegal, some of the men I spoke to engaged also with local Argentinian frames of reference. Posting on social media about local realities in Argentina can challenge imaginaries of success held by people back home. In this sense, Abdoulay's self-representation is more ambiguous than other interlocutors. Similarly to his fellow nationals, he doesn't tell any of his friends or relatives back in Senegal what he does for a living abroad. The difference is that anyone can find videos of him speaking about police abuses and Senegalese people’s situation in Argentina. He speaks genuinely remarkable Spanish. Being so fluent is one of the reasons people choose to interview him, and one of the reasons he volunteers to speak in public demonstrations on behalf of the Senegalese community in Argentina. Moreover, he has his own YouTube channel, where he often addresses the street selling topic. The videos are in Spanish, and he is never seen while working. It would take a big effort for someone who does not speak the language to figure out that Abdoulay is a street vendor. Although the videos are not so explicit, some images are. One could easily infer that things are not as smooth as others tell. Images 1 and 2 are examples of

25 People gossiping around or putting spells for bad luck. Check Chapter 2, Section 2.2.

this. Abdoulay told me that anyone who is friends with him on Facebook could easily find those photos and videos, and if they find out what he is doing is okay with him, he proudly told me, "I'm working, I'm not stealing, come on. They can see me". There is tension between how Abdoulay has resignified and legitimised street selling in the local context and his perception that other people back in Senegal might not recognise his activity as legit or match with the representation of a successful migrant. This tension is manifested in the ambivalent ways in which he self-represents to significant others in Senegal, showing but not telling.

Furthermore, Abdoulay, from time to time, finds jobs as a model. Although some orthodox fellow nationals have criticised him for exhibiting himself in public with little clothes, he firmly believes that he is not going against his religion. Unlike his job as a street vendor, he chooses to show his work as a model on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, where no common language is needed to understand that he is modelling.

Taken from Aboulay’s Facebook Image 1

Taken from Abdoulay’s Facebook Image 2

Bamba is another respondent who provided strong and elaborate reflections about the ambiguity of self-representing, filtering information, obligations and demands from abroad which I am quoting here at length:

There is this concept that everyone wants to feel successful. That the others believe that you are well and have success in the place where you are [abroad].

Unfortunately, it is not the best message, one has to try to describe, let's say the positive things and also mention or mark the negative things, the difficult things, so that others can learn and understand a little better. At least knowing that this exists. Then, whether they believe it or not is something else. But the

modu-modu²⁶, as we call it in Senegal, when he calls his parents, his siblings in Senegal, they want them to know that he is very well, that he lives in a luxury place, that he works very well. Nobody is going to tell you 'look ah, I'm a street vendor, I sell rings there on the beach walking all day' (...) how many Senegalese do you see on Facebook taking photos while peddling? I mean, it's very strange, I mean, the realities are like they are rarely said. And it's not really shameful, It's a job, it's reality, it's what they do and it should be like, like uh, what's it called, like uh, kind of something of pride for the migrant worker. To show his relatives that he did not go to vacation²⁷ abroad, but that he is working hard, and perhaps seeing that situation, that difficult job that you are facing, a very difficult situation, they [the family] could have a little more than, let's say mercy and ask you for less money. Let's say, save very well or spend less of the money you are sending, or at least invest it in something important instead of buying cell phones, not important things. Because if the family member thinks you are very well, then everything that you send them they do whatever they want. But if they realise that you are remando [struggling and thriving at the same time], that you are a street vendor or you are working in a field or that what you earn you are earning it with a lot of effort, facing certain difficulties, you can also have a little more respect and protect what you are sending for the family.

Bamba sums up the critical points voiced by other interlocutors; acknowledging self-representation as a successful migrant, its influence on their families’ imaginations, and consequently how relatives would manage the remittances based on what they imagine the situation looks like abroad. He elaborates on what Abdoulay mentioned before, to feel proud that they are workers, they are not stealing or vacacionando, -only having fun abroad-.

According to Bamba, showing and telling that one manages to thrive in such a hostile context could grant a more respectful status among their relatives. However, like my interlocutor stresses, “everyone wants to feel successful” and wants others to believe so too. Thereby this is translated into imagining an audience whose imaginations need to be managed images, resulting in narratives of wellbeing from abroad. The culturally embedded imaginaries of

26 Colloquial word for low-skilled migrants that manage to make significant income abroad. Consult Riccio, 2005 for more insightful definitions of the term.

27 The word ‘vacation’, -vacaciones in Spanish- is often used by some of my interlocutors. It is frequently used as an opposition to hard-working.

migration as a way to achieve material and symbolic success are deeply rooted in most of my participants' ideas, and street selling, or physical jobs sometimes do not fit such imaginaries.

They imagine a tough audience back in Senegal that would disapprove of their migratory performance. Moreover, they take good care in presenting their situation as conflictless so their relatives would not be worried about them, especially their mothers. However, sometimes by resignifying their activity, such as the cases of Abdoulay or Ndiaga, imaginaries on what activities fit with a ‘good migratory performance’ start to shift, and therefore their self-representation does too.

Challenging Imaginaries

Senegalese migrants' self-representation as successful can be challenged by the internet's public accessibility and the willingness of some migrants to make their situation more visible. The issue on what to show and what to tell transcend my participants in La Plata. For the purpose of this research, I requested to be a member of several Facebook groups for Senegalese living abroad. It is hard to find posts referring to the actual jobs they are doing or people warning about some possible dangers in migration. About three days ago (5/5/21), I stumbled upon the following post that I show below.

The text was followed by seven images depicting black people selling Eiffel tower souvenirs, others running away from the police, or selling handbags at the beach. This message sparked a little discussion in the group that started with someone upset about the images. This person stated that the post could also include pictures of some more legit jobs, such as marines or farmers, to which another person replied that those jobs would make more people risk their lives in search of opportunities. In a short discussion, both users and some other people agreed that "part of the problem is when the kids go on vacation there, and they look rich. That postureo²⁸ does not help to see reality there”. By ‘looking rich’, based on what my participants have told me, it refers to posing themselves next to cars or motorcycles, in airports and shopping malls, or wearing trendy clothes. Therefore, vacacionando is the opposite of what migrants want their significant others to imagine about themselves. I want to add two comments on something that was mentioned in the online discussion I presented above; posting

28 “When trying to pretend he/she is doing something so that everyone knows. It is commonly used in selfies”.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=postureo