Why did migrants from southern Portugal choose Argentina instead of following the traditional path to Brazil? Starting with this question, this book explores how, at the turn of the twentieth century, rural Europeans developed distinctive circuits of transatlantic labor migration linked to diverse immigrant communities in the Americas. It looks at transoceanic moves in the larger context of migration systems, examining their connections and the crucial role of social networks in migrants’ geographic mobility and adaptation. Combining regional and local perspectives on both sides of the Atlantic, Chains of Gold provides a vivid account of the trajectories of migrant men and women as they moved from rural Portugal to contrasting places of settlement in the Argentine pampas and Patagonia.
