Intellectual Migration: Trafficking Ideas, Trafficking Bodies

In the recent decades, Spain has become one of the main destinations for immigrants from other nations.  Of its 46 million inhabitants, 6 million of these are newcomers, generally escaping poor economic and health conditions, and restrictive political climates, in the Global South. This makes Spain the 10^th largest nation of immigrants (Pereda et al. 27). The majority of the immigrants lack skills as well as education, but this paper will study the representation of an interesting figure that arises out of the narratives of the African diaspora, that of the intellectual Africans who come north to further their studies.  In Harraga by Antonio Alonso Lozano, Hope and Other Pursuits by Leila Lalami, and “La belleza del ebano” by Marina Mayoral, the protagonists are lured to Spain in the hopes of continuing their education.  Although not explicitly described as such, the scholarships they receive are an implicit method of trafficking Northern European values and ideas to less developed nations, which will be taken back when they return to their homeland.  Yet, when these individuals arrive, they are ill equipped to survive in their new surroundings.  These immigrants are exploited and trafficked as they are further reduced to become drug mules, concubines, and prostitutes. The paper will analyze the mechanisms in place that allow for the intellectual migration to morph into the trafficking of bodies.  Finally, there will be an exploration of the significance this paradigm has in our socio-historical context.