Event Date
Lecture Title: Maya and Ladino Guatemalan Labor Migrations: Intersections between Indigenous and Latinx Material Conditions in Southern California
Abstract: This lecture examines the complex forces of neoliberalism, racial capitalism, and settler- capitalist states that shape forced international migration from Guatemala to the U.S. Moreover, the lecture brings into conversation the work of Latin American Dependency theory that examines migration through the prism of uneven development between core and peripheral capitalist economies. Building from this theoretical dialogue, my lecture answers the following questions: 1) To what extent do migratory patterns from Guatemala have racial dimensions? and 2) How do the racial and class dynamics found in Guatemala structure the social conditions and political formations among migrants in Southern California? The following research is based on approximately 200 face-to-face surveys, 30 qualitative interviews, and over three years of active participant observation in the Greater Los Angeles region.
Bio: Julio Orellana is a social-science scholar whose primary areas of research are Central American Studies and Latinx Politics. Julio’s investigation examines international migration from Guatemala and migrant politics in Southern California. Julio is a 2023-2025 University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Santa Barbara. Julio earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Ethnic Studies (2023) at UC Riverside.