About Us
Translocal Lives came to life as a space for engaging in deep discussions and explorations about the increasingly important role that technologies play in migration. The name "Translocal Lives" draws its inspiration from the understanding that people who experience migration navigate and exist across multiple spaces, cultures, and identities. These life processes are deeply shaped and facilitated by technology, as it enables individuals to maintain connections, bridge distances, and navigate the complexities of their diverse environments.
This website crafts its content to connect with a diverse crowd, including but not limited to researchers, educators, practitioners and migrants themselves, providing insights and resources that directly apply to the field of migration and digital media. Researchers will find content that captures their interests and opens doors for collaboration. This website also embraces the diverse voices from outside academia in an effort to bring new ideas and perspectives to the table.
With an aim to foster enhanced understanding and diverse perspectives on the multidisciplinary challenges posed by migration and technology, Translocal Lives strives to create an inclusive space for the exchange of knowledge and ideas.
What do we stand for?
Co-producing and Sharing Knowledge
We prioritize opportunities for participatory work, including the ability of developing unique and relevant initiatives by affected communities. Participatory research approaches that prioritize lived experiences as the foundation for generating knowledge inherently disrupt and undermine the power hierarchies that typically shape knowledge production. These approaches encourage researchers to critically examine their own social positioning and the extent to which their perceived expertise dominates the knowledge generation process.
Reciprocity
Reciprocity helps ensure the research process and outcomes are more ethical and socially just. We prioritize research projects, resources, and initiatives that deliver tangible benefits to the participating individuals or community, such as improved access to resources, capacity building opportunities, or amplification of their voices and perspectives.
Self-reflexivity
Self-reflexivity: It's crucial to acknowledge that our social justice-oriented approaches and research can be misused or lead to unintended consequences, despite our good intentions (Leurs & Smets, 2018). As committed researchers, we must continuously examine our practices, biases, and the broader impact of our work. This self-awareness helps us anticipate potential misuse and take proactive steps to mitigate it, ensuring that our efforts remain aligned with social justice goals and do not cause unintended harm.
Resisting Reductive Categorizations
We recognize that categorizations of 'refugee' and 'migrant' are imbued with power dynamics, political agendas, and systems of inclusion and exclusion. Our ethical stance entails that we resist simplistic labeling and instead uplift the humanity, stories, and self-determined identities of those navigating migration.
Management Team
Amanda Alencar
Amanda Alencar is an Associate Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, researching how digital media shape refugees’ experiences of belonging and integration in Europe and Latin America. She has led projects on digital place-making, translocalism, and refugees, including as Co-PI of a UNHCR-supported study on digital leisure in Brazil. She recently joined the Academic Executive Board of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Governance of Migration and Diversity and conducts interviews for The IMISCOE Migration Podcast.
Yvonne Su
Dr. Yvonne Su is the Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies in Canada. As an interdisciplinary migration expert with a family history of displacement, Yvonne’s research is dedicated to asking contemporary migration questions with a focus on vulnerable groups in marginalized communities and the decolonization knowledge creation. She uses arts-based participatory methods in her research including photovoice and videovoice.
Camila Sarria Sanz
Camila is a communication designer and media researcher passionate about education, science communication, and technology. She holds a Master’s in Media, Culture, and Society and is co-founder of Quantica Education, a social entrepreneurship school in Colombia. There, she develops impact measurement methodologies, crafts communication strategies, and facilitates workshops. Currently, she leads the management and design of the Translocal Lives Hub, working to make research more accessible and relatable.
Collaborators
Collaborators in Translocal Lives contribute to and expand the conversation on migration and technology. They have access to the Translocal Lives platform to share their work, connect with other members in private online events (held twice a year), and propose initiatives that further the dialogue. In turn, we hope they engage with and amplify the project—helping to make visible the voices, ideas, and perspectives that shape our collective exploration.
