Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging - Latin Americans in London

This book gives voice to the diverse diasporic Latin American communities living in the UK by exploring first and onward migration of Latin Americans to Europe, with a specific reference to London.

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Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging - Latin Americans in London

29 Oct 2020, 18:00 – 19:30

At this virtual book launch the authors, Dr Patria Román-Velázquez and Dr Jessica Retis, discussed how networks of solidarity and local struggles are played out, enacted, negotiated and experienced in different spatial spheres, whether this be migration routes into London, work spaces, diasporic media and urban places, through which we witness manifestations of British Latinidad that invoke new forms of belongingness beyond and against old colonial powers. The book will be presented by Professor Cathy McIlwaine (King’s College London) and Professor Silvio Waisbord (George Washington University), and the event was chaired by Professor Maxine Molyneux.

Speakers:

Dr Patria Román-Velázquez is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University London. Patria is a sociology and communication specialist with an interest in urban communication, migrant and ethnic economies and urban regeneration. Her research is framed around theories of globalisation, cities, place and identity mainly through ethnographic research with Latin Americans in London. Her current research interrogates the impact of urban regeneration and urban planning policy frameworks for London’s migrant and ethnic economies. Patria is the author of the book The Making of Latin London: Salsa Music, Place and Identity (1999); co-author of Narratives of migration, relocation and belonging: Latin Americans in London (2020); and has published articles in a number of journals and edited collections. She is also founder and Chair of Trustees at Latin Elephant, CIO. A charity that works with migrant and ethnic groups, and Latin Americans in particular, to increase inclusion, engagement and participation in processes of urban change in London.

Dr Jessica Retis is Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Director of the Master’s in Bilingual Journalism at the University of Arizona. She is affiliated Faculty with the Center for Latin American Studies and the Human Rights Practice Program at UA. Retis holds a Major in Communications (University of Lima, Peru), a Masters in Latin American Studies (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and a Ph.D. in Contemporary Latin America (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain). She has almost two decades of professional experience as journalist in Peru, Mexico and Spain and almost three decades of teaching experience in several universities in the United States, Spain and Mexico. Her areas of research include Latin America, international migration, diasporas and transnational communities; cultural industries; ethnic media; diversity and the media; Latino media in Europe, North America and Asia; bilingual journalism, journalism studies, and journalism education. She is co-editor of The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture (Willey, 2019) and co-author of Latin Americans in London: Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging (Palgrave, 2020).

This event is jointly organised by Loughborough University London, The University of Arizona School of Journalism and UCL Institute of the Americas.

Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging. Latin Americans in London is published by PalgraveMacmillan. It is a title of the Studies of the Americas series, edited by Professor Maxine Molyneux.