"What We Are Gaining Here, We Are Losing There"

This study is based on research conducted with Italian-Brazilians from southern Santa Catarina, Brazil, who work in ice cream shops in Germany and were interviewed between 2020–2024. The objective was to investigate the dynamics of these workers, who present issues related to the identity politics of their municipality and the difficulties of living between places, as they live between two countries. The peculiarity presented by the cases prompted the exploration of interfaces of the problems implicit in this migratory movement. We opted for the selection of a single case studied in depth. We investigated the construction of paternal identity in relation to the lived experience of displacement and the situation of leaving children in Brazil, drawing on Critical Social Psychology. We analyzed the Life History of a father who left his daughter in Brazil to continue his work in Germany. Themes such as masculinity, family arrangements, life plans, and the consequences of identity politics for relationships and the mental health of those involved were explored. The results indicated how paternal identity tied to the context of financial difficulties may highlight the exacerbation of the ideological role and the belief in the performance attributed to the masculine. Such belief in this mythical identity hinders the elaboration of present problems, making it impossible to envision the future and preventing the emergence of characters with emancipatory potential.