Spectral Latinidad: the work of Latinx migrants and small charities in London

Abstract

This thesis asks: what is the relationship between Latina/o/xs and small-scale charities in London? I find that their relationship is intersectional and performative in the sense that political action is induced through their interactions. This enquiry is theoretically guided by Derrida's metaphor of spectrality and Massey's understanding of space. Derrida’s spectres allow for an understanding of space as spectral, and Massey’s space allows for spectres to be understood in the context of spatial politics. This theoretical interaction is illustrated in an ethnographic account of the relationship in question. I propose that Latinidad be understood as a spectral subjectivity that is spatialised largely in consequence to its relation to charity work, especially that which is performed by small-scale charities in London. The spatialisation of Latinidad through charity work is explored in relation to three scales: individual, organisational, and the urban setting. The empirical chapters that explore these relations are Chapter 5 which focuses on the individual scale, specifically users and volunteers of small charities and the ways they spatialise Latinidad through recreational and educational work, emphasising how these practices are haunted by structural inequalities in housing, health, and labour conditions. Chapter 6 focuses on the organisational scale, specifically on the work small-scale charities do to spatialise Latinidad through educational, recreational, and advocacy work. Chapter 7 focuses on charity work in London’s urban setting which allows for an examination of the urban border, that is practices that seek to regulate migrants’ experience of urban space; the urban border herein is instantiated in policy trends that characterise charity sector politics in relation to the state and the market. I conclude with a chapter reflecting on the political potentiality of Latinidad as a spectral subjectivity—the ability to forge coalitions across ethnic and geographical imaginaries, and its limitations as survival mechanisms that expand notions of what it means to be Latinx in London.