Cartographies of Emergence of Latin American Communities and British Latinx Imaginaries in London

Abstract

This paper explores Latin American communities in London through the conceptual lens of cartographies of emergence in translocational perspective suggesting that it provides a less binary approach than the more commonly used perspective of ‘(in)visibility’. This is informed by the empirical analysis of Latin American community-building through their negotiation of precarity and collective resistance. It also reflects on the contested nomenclatures used to denote the ‘community’ such as Latin American and British Latinx as well as plural interpretations of British Latinidades and British Latinx imaginaries, the latter to capture the mutable and dynamic identities and belonging.