Informal and Reliable: Bolivian Immigrants in Korean Sewing Workshops in the Argentine Garment Industry*

Abstract

Since the beginning of Korean migration to Argentina in the 1960s, Korean immigrants in Argentina have been intensively involved in the garment industry. Due to the substantial upward mobility of the Korean business community, Korean workshop owners, out of necessity, started recruiting workers outside of their co-ethnic networks. Based on ethnographic research in Argentina, this research aims to explore why and how Korean employers have created labor relationships exclusively with Bolivian immigrants in their workshops in the Argentine garment industry. The research demonstrates that Bolivian seamstresses prefer to work for Korean workshop owners as Korean employers are deemed more dependable, pay on time and in full, and provide relatively better working conditions, in comparison to Bolivian employers. For Korean workshop owners who are managing their businesses extremely informally, it is strategic to turn to the group deemed most reliable, most “submissive and diligent,” when they can’t hire co-ethnic workers. The findings further suggest that it is particularly crucial to establish linkages of bounded solidarity and tacit trust that have been generated beyond co-ethnics when employment and business practices are managed in a highly informal environment, such as the case of Bolivian seamstresses in Korean workshops in the Argentine garment industry.