Francesca Edgerton

Francesca works on exile policy in 20th century Mexico, and looks at how from the 1920s onwards Mexico positioned itself as a destination for exiles across the political spectrum. By linking exile policy to the myth of the Mexican Revolution, which was disseminated by successive post-revolutionary governments in an attempt to legitimise themselves in an era of instability, she argues that exile policy was a central and understudied tenet of this myth, which shaped the international perception of Mexico. Exile policy formed part of an attempt by the government to improve Mexico’s standing on the world stage and build legitimacy for the Mexican Revolution at home and abroad, which has been overlooked by much of the literature on this topic. She explores how Mexico played a key role in shaping the global category of political exile. Her doctoral project is AHRC funded.  
 
Francesca also hosts a monthly reading group on ‘Latin America in the World’, which discusses works that consider Latin America in the 20th century from a transnational perspective.

PhD

Supervisor: Thomas Rath (first supervisor) and William Booth (second supervisor) 
Working title: “The Lighthouse of America”: Political exiles and the myth of the Mexican Revolution