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‘La Lenin is my passport’: schooling, mobility and belonging in socialist Cuba and its diaspora

Berg, ML; (2016) ‘La Lenin is my passport’: schooling, mobility and belonging in socialist Cuba and its diaspora. In: Valentin, K and Fog Olwig, K, (eds.) Mobility, education and life trajectories: new and old migratory pathways. (pp. 57-71). Routledge: Abingdon, United Kingdom. Green open access

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Abstract

Based on an ethnographic study of transnational networks of alumni of an academically selective boarding school in Havana, this article explores the nexus between mobility, schooling and belonging in the context of socialist Cuba and its diaspora. Drawing on Goffman’s work, I argue that the boarding school experience was transformative; it facilitated or consolidated social mobility for its pupils, which later, for many, led to geographic mobility in the form of study and work outside Cuba. After graduating, alumni continue to identify with the school and to reproduce their alumni identities. The affective webs of belonging forged through family links and friendships fostered at the school constitute emotionally sustaining networks that also provide material support after migrating. I propose that the school represents a site of identification for a globally dispersed non-national diaspora and argue that migration scholars need to embed international migration within people’s lives more broadly.

Type: Book chapter
Title: ‘La Lenin is my passport’: schooling, mobility and belonging in socialist Cuba and its diaspora
ISBN: 1138202304
ISBN-13: 9781138202306
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: https://www.routledge.com/Mobility-Education-and-L...
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Diaspora, schooling, belonging, mobilities, Cuba, transnational network.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1522654
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