Researching Latin America in Liverpool: Transnational Connections of Hope and Solidarity

Abstract

This article examines archival collections at the University of Liverpool and local community archives documenting academic, political, cultural and personal links between Liverpool and Latin America in the second half of the twentieth century. Centring on collections related to Chile and Central America between the 1960s and 1990s, the analysis highlights hidden histories of transnational solidarity, human rights campaigns and academic research connecting Liverpool with Latin America during a turbulent period of dictatorship, repression and opposition. The varied records – from institutional papers to exile ephemera and cultural artefacts – provide multilayered grassroots perspectives on resistance in Latin America and abroad, revealing the diverse motivations underpinning local solidarity activism. Ongoing digitization and community collaborations based on these archives underline their contemporary significance for research and education. This article argues that as key sites of exchange across activist, academic and migrant communities in Liverpool the archival collections represent vital tools for preserving diasporic heritage, as well as raising awareness of the importance of solidarity with Latin America.