Exploring the dimensions of belonging and identity amongst Spanish-born Africans
Abstract
The overarching aim of this PhD is to explore the dimensions of the changing meaning of belonging and place in the recently multicultural Spanish society, a nation with a generally homogenous imaginary of itself, and how the fight to define a space that encapsulates both Spanishness and blackness will take form. The establishment of an identity space, in all the current examples of multicultural and multi-ethnic societies seems to be a step towards the existence and fermentation of a sense of pertinence to the spheres with which children of migrants identify, an idea supported by Benton & Gómez (2014). Therefore, the key research questions will be explored:
- What strategies do the African diaspora in Spain employ to create and establish their own identity-space, that is, a sense of ethnic, racial and -national belonging?
- How have recent initiatives in the past 5 years with the goal of generating community, such as the AfroConciencia festival and platform, succeeded in their goals?
- What role do concepts pertaining to the nation, 'race', ethnicity, culture and current migration rhetoric play in articulations of belonging in Spain?
With national depiction of immigration over the past years, and expressions such as "waves of immigrants", "avalanches of immigrants in rafts", and rhetoric of invasion of foreign bodies in the news, it is imperative to delve into the sociopsychological impact on the Afro-Spaniard population. The contributions of this PhD will be:
- Further literature on this population where there is a small body of research existent.
- Developing the area of diasporic research, giving space to new growing diaspora.
- This study will be interdisciplinary, encompassing social psychology, sociology and anthropology, thus fashioning a unique area of discussion for a topic that will surely will not only affect the African immigrant population in Spain, but will branch further into other non-Caucasian immigrant populations.
- Finally, it will also seek to shed light into the area of how Us and Them are identified and defined in the Spanish imaginary of national identity.
- What strategies do the African diaspora in Spain employ to create and establish their own identity-space, that is, a sense of ethnic, racial and -national belonging?
- How have recent initiatives in the past 5 years with the goal of generating community, such as the AfroConciencia festival and platform, succeeded in their goals?
- What role do concepts pertaining to the nation, 'race', ethnicity, culture and current migration rhetoric play in articulations of belonging in Spain?
With national depiction of immigration over the past years, and expressions such as "waves of immigrants", "avalanches of immigrants in rafts", and rhetoric of invasion of foreign bodies in the news, it is imperative to delve into the sociopsychological impact on the Afro-Spaniard population. The contributions of this PhD will be:
- Further literature on this population where there is a small body of research existent.
- Developing the area of diasporic research, giving space to new growing diaspora.
- This study will be interdisciplinary, encompassing social psychology, sociology and anthropology, thus fashioning a unique area of discussion for a topic that will surely will not only affect the African immigrant population in Spain, but will branch further into other non-Caucasian immigrant populations.
- Finally, it will also seek to shed light into the area of how Us and Them are identified and defined in the Spanish imaginary of national identity.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000592/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2597865 | Studentship | ES/P000592/1 | 01/10/2021 | 30/09/2025 | Linda Olanrewaju Adeyemo |