Naturalization patterns and social mobility strategies: political representation among immigrant elites in southern Brazil during the Second Empire.

The study of immigrant elites in the south of Rio Grande do Sul is the focus of this work, especially of German and English groups, established in the port city of Rio Grande, in the extreme south of Brazil, in the second half of the 19th century. Merchants and entrepreneurs have built a solid migratory network interconnecting ethnic groups throughout the region. Of urban character, this migration differs from the colonization process, characteristic of this part of the country. The present work intends to understand the the type of participation, representation or political influence that such immigrant elite groups may have in local society.