IMLR/OWRI release New Report on the Latin American Community in Southwark
Friday 18 December 2020
London’s Latin American community is the eighth largest, and one of the fastest growing, non-UK born populations in the city (McIlwaine and Bunge 2016). The recognition of Latin Americans as an ethnic minority in the UK has been long claimed by the Latin American community and in 2012, Southwark became the first council in the UK to recognise Latin Americans as an ethnic group. In 2018, Southwark Council in partnership with the Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London, secured funding to work with the Latin American community organisations in Southwark. The bid is part of the AHRC-funded Open World Research Initiative project ‘Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community’. A particular emphasis of this strand is on the development of new approaches to community engagement which pays specific attention to linguistic and cultural dynamics. The project aimed to explore new tools, resources and opportunities for collaboration, participation and engagement between the Latin American community organisations in Southwark, Southwark Council and the wider community. The research involved the co-development of a series of interlinked activities, events and programmes with, by and for the community organisations, including the creation of a Latin American network in Southwark, supported by Community Southwark, and an online English language course co-designed by Latin American women for Latin American women in London.
This report is the result of almost three years of research and community work in Southwark led by María Soledad Montañez in partnership with Southwark Council, in collaboration with Community Southwark and several Latin American organisations in Southwark.
This page was last updated on 19 August 2022
