Arely M. Zimmerman, "Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders" (U Arizona Press, 2026)

About this episode

Arely M. Zimmerman discusses her book on Salvadoran activism and the redefinition of citizenship in the context of migration.

Contentious Citizenship : Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders (U Arizona Press, 2026) reshapes how we understand belonging, identity, and political participation in the context of migration. Drawing on decades of Salvadoran activism from the 1980s solidarity movement to the post–civil war era, Arely M. Zimmerman offers a powerful ethnographic account of how migrants challenge exclusionary state practices and redefine citizenship on their own terms using transnational networks and revolutionary politics that transcend borders.Drawing on nearly fifty interviews with activists who fled El Salvador, Zimmerman traces how political refugees carried with them strategies of resistance and community organizing that shaped social justice movements in the United States. The book addresses the political turmoil and grassroots mobilizations in El Salvador, the sanctuary movement of the 1980s, contemporary activism, and the impact of women’s strategies and forms of resistance.Essential reading for scholars and students of migration, Central American studies, and political movements, Contentious Citizenship is a bold intervention into contemporary debates on identity, legality, and…

People in this episode

Host: Mary Reynolds

Guest: Arely M. Zimmerman

Topics covered

• Salvadoran activism
• migration
• political participation
• identity
• citizenship
• social justice movements

Keywords

• Salvadoran activism
• migration
• citizenship
• political participation
• social justice
• identity
• transnational networks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Arizona Press

Books & works: Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders, The Quake That Drained the Desert

Places: El Salvador

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