(Hola!)
I am a doctoral researcher within the Growing Up Across Borders (GRABS) project at the Centre for Sociological and Political Research (CRESPPA), Université Paris 8. I am currently exploring how centering young irregular migrants and asylum seekers’ experiences can help to understand how migration policies in host countries, and their implementation, tend to perpetuate colonial forms of violence and exclusion. I am doing this through critical intersectional and decolonial approaches to migration. My fieldwork will take place in Canada, South Africa, and the UK.
Prior to joining CRESPPA, I worked as a research fellow at the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) at University College London, and at the Values in Sustainability Research Group (VSRG), University of Brighton, UK. More recently, I worked as a researcher at the Foundation John BOST, France.
I have a strong and cross-sectoral research background in history, shared cultural values, political science, international migration, community-based development, global nutrition, and humanitarian work. My interests bring together oral history, socio-political analysis, migration research and advocacy, social justice, and community resilience.
In my spare time — not much of it lately — I practice aikido. I enjoy cycling, playing football, and chess. I also like creative writing and draw comics under the pseudonym Juanchila. I am the creator of the cartoon character matéman and recently published matéman: cebada 2018-2020 (2023), a collection of early drawings. You can find out more about my illustration work at juanchila.com.