Mobile Selves: Race, Migration, and Belonging in Peru and the U.S.
Book by Ulla Berg, Rutgers University
Reviewed by Kristin Skrabut, Harvard University
Summer 2016

Kristin Skrabut of Harvard University reviews Mobile Selves: Race, Migration, and Belonging in Peru and the U.S., by Ulla Berg. The book combines innovative currents in migration and media studies with a deep understanding of Peruvian history to argue that migration is a form of “communicative practice.” It is a means by which Andean Peruvians convey images of themselves as worldly and engaged in moral and modern pursuits of self-improvement and social ascension that also entail myriad other “always-partial” and often embodied forms of communication. Organized around intersecting themes of mobility, mediation, and ambivalent national belongings, the text guides readers through the affective, embodied, and multiply mediated worlds of Andean migrants as they struggle to negotiate meaningful lives for themselves in Peru and the United States.
Read the book review at https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12277