Una aproximación sociológica crítica activista al estudio de salud y migración: el caso ecuatoriano

Abstract

Migratory processes test the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of migrants and their relatives that stay in their place of origin. This article presents an abridged analysis of an interdisciplinary and applied research developed between 2015 and 2019 about Ecuadorian migrants in the United States and Spain, relatives of migrants who stayed in Ecuador, and return migrants. By paying attention to health and migration histories, family dynamics, care practices, transnational intersections of social structures, and individual and collective agency, this study identifies health processes and conceptualizes psycho-sociocultural mechanisms that migrants and their relatives use to cope with migration- related health challenges. It discusses how the application of a critical, feminist, and activist theoretical-practical sociological approach provides a transformative vision to the traditional study of health and migration, which is effective to prevent and take care of health problems resulting from migration.