Migrating for an Integrated Life: The Reinvention of Creative Workers in Southern Chile

This article explores the migration processes of a specific class of workers moving to southern Chile, broadly defined as "cultural producers." This term refers to those working in artistic, creative, and intellectual fields, who strongly identify with their work, often pursuing personal goals rather than externally imposed tasks. As documented in previous research, these cultural work forms have become influential across other productive sectors (Pinochet & Tobar, 2021). These workers typically operate within a flexible and autonomous structure regarding work hours and locations, blurring the lines between work and leisure.

More importantly, this group of cultural agents, part of the so-called "meaningful work" in post-Fordist capitalism (Overell, 2008; Valenzuela, Reygadas & Cruces, 2015), is characterized by the centrality of work to personal identity and the joyful, passionate dimension they attribute to their practice. However, it is precisely this association with "happiness" (Sinagaglia, 2013), "enthusiasm" (Zafra, 2017), and "vocation" (Mauro, 2018) that makes cultural work a fertile ground for labor vulnerability (Gielen, 2009).

Our research, aligned with international studies (Mc Robbie, 2007 & 2010; Lorey, 2006; Guadarrama, 2014; Guadarrama et al., 2012; Oliva et al., 2012; Quiña, 2018), has shown the specific forms of labor precariousness in this sector: multi-tasking, uncertainty, informal contracts, undeclared work, and excessive workloads (Pinochet & Tobar, 2021). These tensions, often experienced as paradoxes of supposedly joyful work, lead cultural producers to seek alternative lifestyles. In this context, relocating to the south of the country has become a significant trend among local artists, creators, and intellectuals, representing a renewed search for well-being that their creative passion has failed to achieve in their typically urban, metropolitan experiences.