Soy y me llamo Esperanza. Women’s readings and reimaginings of national borders

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday V)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Mapping pedagogies of hope and resistance in a borderless future

Proposal

Traditionally, in the study of Global South to North migrations, cis men have been recognized by governments, international agencies, and human rights organizations as the central actors in migration, as such, the male narrative dominates the public sphere. However, in the case of immigration to the United States women from Latin America have always migrated (Luibheid, 2002; Moloney, 2006; Peña Delgado, 2012) in marginally lower numbers than men (Immigration Policy Center, 2014). Immigrant women shape global migrations, yet their experiences have been all but acknowledged. Through a postcolonial feminist framework (Spivak, 1988; Rivera Cusicanqui 2002, 2012) and with the analysis of in-depth interviews and focus groups with first-generation immigrant women in New York City and Mexico City, carried out in schooling and domestic spaces, this paper explores adult women's understandings of oppression and violence against those who cross borders. Furthermore, this study examines the role of borderless resentment (Coulthard, 2014) as an educational and knowledge-producing affect, and a legitimate mean for individual and collective empowerment.

Author

• Atenea Rosado-Viurques, University of Pennsylvania