Public Migration Policies from an Agnotological Perspective: Institutional Omission and Confusion Around the “Bracero” File

Abstract

This article derives from a series of previous studies since 2008 about the movement of former workers in different parts of Mexico. This movement has several sociological edges: social rights, labor migration, return migrations, public migration policies, emotional experiences of migration, old age, rural areas, etc. The role of ignorance in the relationship between braceros and authorities is addressed, in the light of this complexity. Ignorance, known as agnotology from the pioneering works of the historian Robert Proctor, has become an object of study to understand another aspect of contemporary governance. It consists in the deliberate production of ignorance that is infused and spread to a given audience, often taking advantage of its vulnerability. It works by omission (absence of information) or confusion (multiple information). The above is my object of study and then I present its first research results.